There's a considerable level of abuse in the name 1D1F – Bokpin on giving out GH₵12bn tax exemptions - MyJoyOnline

An Economist, Professor Godfred Bokpin has hit back at the government for seeking to grant GH₵12 billion tax exemptions for companies under the One District One Factory (ID1F) programme.

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“The point is that if it is that good why not rather close the gap and deploy that revenue efficiently creating a general macro-economic environment that is conducive for businesses whether they are under 1D1F or not.”

His comment follows the Minority in Parliament's claim that the Finance Ministry is seeking more than 7 billion cedis in fresh tax exemption requests despite another 5.5 billion cedis in exemption requests pending.

This 12 billion cedis in tax exemption requests are all before the Finance Committee of Parliament with the Minority blocking the approval of the initial 5.5 billion cedis.

“If you look at the 2019 State of the Nation Address, our own president told us what exemption is doing to our revenue base and that by 2018, Ghana lost more than 4.66 billion cedis through one aspect of exemption alone,” he added.

He noted that although there is some conventional wisdom in giving out exemptions, “we are not doing it efficiently and we are not benefiting from the idea that tax expenditures can be used to engineer job creation in certain sectors of the economy but more of abuse.”

In response to the Trade Minister's defense of the entities proposed for tax exemptions, stating that they deserve it as the economy stands a chance to benefit from it, Prof Bokpin questioned how the government tracks the ‘immediate and long-term benefit of the tax exemptions given.