The President of IMANI Center for Policy and Education has described former President Mahama’s campaign promise to totally scrap the controversial betting tax as mere political talk just to sway votes.
The former President made this promise to totally abolish the 10% Withholding Tax on betting and lottery winnings on Monday when officials and supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) gathered for a Town Hall Meeting at Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra.
But Mr. Franklin Cudjoe says he vehemently opposes the idea of Mr. Mahama to scrap the tax.
He explains that despite the economic challenges in the country, revenue mobilization is very crucial, hence it is not in the best interest of the country for such an income-generating avenue to be blocked.
He, however, suggests that at best, Mr. Mahama could have offered to reduce the rate admitting that the current 10% rate is too high.
“Despite the economic challenges, I do not agree that we should completely remove taxes on the winning cash of betting. He can revise the tax downwards. Some of the boys were complaining and I understood them because they argued that ‘you are not creating jobs for me as a government, the little joy I get from betting, you tax the joy away’. Of course, we don’t want that, but I think there has to be a middle ground,” Franklin Cudjoe noted.
According to the President of IMANI Africa, the flagbearer failed to look at the issue in the bigger picture of the economy but rather made a more politically motivated promise just to court the affection of the aggrieved youth.
“John Mahama should have said ‘Look, taxes must be implemented to generate revenue for the country; however, the rate will be revised’. I would have agreed to that but in terms of doing away with it, that is more political talk,” he stated.IMANI President Franklin Cudjoe criticizes Mahama’s promise to scrap the 10% betting tax as political rhetoric, suggesting a tax reduction instead for revenue generation.
