• About Us
  • Contact Us
Account
GTB
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
No Result
View All Result
Account
Ghana Talks Business
No Result
View All Result

Parliament approves COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy: What this means for Ghanaians

12/04/2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Covid-19 Delta variant

Covid-19

405
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp
During the budget reading on Friday, March 12, the acting Finance Minister, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said the government plans to increase the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) and the Value Added Tax flat-rate by one percentage point.


“We propose a one percentage point increase in the national health insurance levy and a one percentage point increase in the Value Added Tax flat-rate to support expenditure related to COVID-19,” the acting Minister of Finance said.”
On Tuesday, March 30 despite the Minority’s resistance, parliament approved the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy.

What this means for Ghanaians
The National Health Insurance Levy currently stands at 2.5% while that of the VAT flat-rate stands at 3%. With the approval from parliament, NHIL, a levy on goods and services supplied in or imported into Ghana will see a shift from the current 2.5% to 3.5% while the VAT flat-rate applied to only retailers and wholesalers will see a shift from the current 3% to 4%. Ghanaians will thus, end up paying 1% more for products bought.

For instance, if a retailer decides to sell a printer for GHS200.00, at a VAT flat-rate of 4%, a customer will pay GHS208.00 for the printer instead of GHS206.00 at the VAT flat-rate of 3%. The seller retains his GHS200.00 while GHS8.00 (4% VAT flat-rate) goes to Ghana Revenue Authority.

Arguments against the Levy
The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu registered his displeasure and described the bill as a regressive tax which “will impose further hardship on the Ghanaian.”


“It makes no distinction between the rich and the poor, it is an anonymous… to the NPP’s own manifesto promise of moving from taxation to production. That is a somersault of the policy when even during the Covid times you’re coming with these new taxes,” he further said on the floor of parliament.


According to Haruna Iddrisu, the bill did not state clearly how the estimated GHS1.4 billion potential revenue is expected to be utilized.
“The fact that you benefited from the suspension of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, does not mean that you should act irresponsibly in terms of not prioritising government expenditure or controlling government expenditure,” Haruna Iddrisu said.

Reasons for the levy
According to Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu, in the March 12 budget reading, the levy was to help mobilize additional revenue to employ more health workers at the country’s health facilities, build new health facilities, and finance the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines across the country.
The levy was also to support the establishment of 14 medical waste treatment facilities across the country for the safe disposal of medical waste in conjunction with the private sector.

ALSO READ: Budget 2021: The new taxes and what it means to your pocket


Previous Post

Returning to “Business as Usual” in the New Normal

Next Post

The challenges of The Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) between Ghana and The European Union (EU)

Related Posts

aliou cisse: football management, ghanatalksbusiness.com

How you Know a Good Manager, Lessons from football

17/05/2022
AWIEF awards 2022

Nominations open for the Prestigious AWIEF Awards Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs

16/05/2022
Climate change in Africa

Three steps for Africa to combat climate change

16/05/2022
win customers, ghanatalksbusiness.com

Why your Customers are better strategists than Managers

16/05/2022
Compassionate manager

How to Be a Compassionate Manager in a Heartless Organization

10/05/2022
business ideas to pursue, ghanatalksbusiness.com

The Right Way to Get Your First 1,000 Customers

09/05/2022
Next Post
Economic transformation, ghanatalksbusiness.com

The challenges of The Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) between Ghana and The European Union (EU)

leadership

The 15 Diseases of Leadership, according to Pope Francis

  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us

© 2021 Ghana Talks Business

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
  • Login

© 2021 Ghana Talks Business

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In