The Minority in Parliament has levelled accusations against the government, alleging its intention to grant an astonishing ¢7 billion in tax waivers to individuals connected to the trade industry.

This revelation comes amid an existing ¢5 billion tax waiver request currently under consideration by the Finance Committee, disguised as incentive packages for the One District One Factory (1D1F) policy.

Speaking to reporters in Accra on Wednesday, Yussif Sulemana, the Ranking Member on the Trade and Industry Committee, issued a stern warning that the Minority would vehemently oppose any effort to impose additional regressive taxes on Ghanaians if the government does not abandon these perceived excessive tax waivers.

"The 2024 budget alone is imposing taxes to the tune of GHS11 billion. The unfortunate thing is that while we are taxing the poor Ghanaians to raise this revenue, we are also at the same time granting tax waivers to friends and family members.

"For instance, we have about GHS5.5 billion tax exemptions waiting at the finance committee.

"We have also been reliably informed, and we are speaking because we have seen documents that suggest that they’re bringing another GHS7 billion tax waiver request to parliament.

"Now, if you put the two together, we are talking about GHS12.5 billion tax exemptions," cautioned Sulemana.

He continued, "Here you are wanting to grant GHS12.5 billion to your friends and family members in the name of tax exemptions under 1D1F. At the same time, you are imposing taxes to the tune of GHS11 billion. Can you juxtapose the two?

"We think that it doesn’t make sense to us, and so we are saying that the tax bill that they are going to introduce in this particular budget will face some stiff opposition. We will not sit down and allow them to impose taxes on our people," he asserted.