President of the Ghana Union of Traders, Dr. Joseph Obeng, has revealed that GUTA was not engaged on the recently passed tax bills.

According to him, the Finance Ministry had failed to reach out to them for their input even despite their protestations concerning the adverse effect of the tax bills.

The bills namely the Income Tax Amendment Bill, the Excise Duty Amendment Bill and the Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill were passed on Friday evening.

The government had stated that the revenue bills are needed to help the government complete processes for the about $3 billion IMF deal as well as improve the revenue situation of the country.

Following their passage, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has expressed disappointment stating that the bills are coming on the heels of an already harsh business climate and poses very dire consequences for their industry.

“We denounce the lack of stakeholder consultation on such fiscal policies, which have negative impact on businesses. AGI took steps to make input to the bills and it’s obvious that our submissions did not receive the consideration we expected,” the AGI said in a press statement.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Dr. Obeng affirmed that there had not been any stakeholder engagement and that GUTA had not been given the privilege to offer submissions towards the tax bills.

“We were never engaged. Maybe AGI would have been privileged but we were never engaged, and so I cannot say the same things that they’re saying. But it’s very unfortunate because it has always been the norm that whenever there is a new tax, they consult us and then we build consensus.

“That’s how government and businesses have been doing. Even when it bypasses us and goes to parliament, and we raise concerns, they hold on it and then come and engage us again,” he bemoaned.

He stated that the government going ahead to present and pass the tax bills without consultation is testament to their hard resolve to “bring it regardless of the pleas from the business community.”

Dr. Obeng said GUTA had tried several avenues to get the government to at least engage them on the bill but none came to fruition.

“So many petitions have been sent to parliament itself, to the speaker and then press releases have been issued. I hope you read mine couple of days ago. And so this almost all the business unions and organization have protested to this very bill because we are overburdened with tax payments, seriously and it is true, to the extent that any layer of course of doing business would have succeeded in breaking the backs of businesses and that’s our fears and that’s why we disapprove this bill,” he said.