Finance minister to present bill under certificate of urgency to abolish betting tax and E-Levy

The bill, which also aims to abolish the COVID-19 Levy, will be presented to Parliament for prompt consideration, the Finance Minister said on JoyNews PM Express on Tuesday, March 12.

“Tomorrow morning, I will be going to Parliament to submit the bills, and I expect Parliament to take them through a certificate of urgency,” Dr. Forson disclosed.

He stressed that the procedure for repeal will be simple.

“Repealing the taxes will be one clause each. Repealing the betting tax is very easy, the E-Levy and all of those things we are repealing are quite easy,” the minister said.

According to Dr. Forson, the proposed reforms are considered urgent under Ghana’s Constitution because they involve tax measures.

“It’s a revenue bill, and under the Constitution, you have a way to lay finance bills under a certificate of urgency,” he explained.

Dr. Forson was optimistic that Parliament would attend to the bill quickly.

“I assure you that I will do my bit tomorrow and submit it to Parliament, and looking at the urgency involved, I’m hopeful that Parliament will take it through the various stages and approve it for us,” he said.

He added that the Majority caucus fully supports the bill.

“As for the backing of the NDC Majority caucus, we have it 100%.”

He assured the public that as soon as Parliament passes the bill, President John Mahama will swiftly sign it into law.