This headline has caught my attention in the past weeks.
I see politicians doing what they do best. Those in government are saying one thing and those in the opposition with a different position.
Let’s understand the role of government. We the citizens have a covenant with the government to pay taxes and the government will protect, develop infrastructure and give us a good standard of living. The sad part is, as citizens we pay these taxes through direct or indirect taxes. The question is, does the government use our taxes judiciously?
What is wrong if the government identifies taxing the betting industry as a new avenue for revenue? Casino and betting have seen a boom in recent years. For me, the rate of increase in betting is a worry, especially among our youth.
I don’t see anything wrong with taxing the betting industry. In fact, if those taxes will act as a deterrent to reduce the number of people happy to engage in that activity, then it’s a good thing.
Our concern as a nation is the negative effects of betting in our society not to play political football by taxing the industry.
After all, we are taxing mobile money which was seen as a no-go area. We can have prudent taxation and production economy. The two can coexist side by side.
What we should be talking about is reducing the import duties at our ports. This is killing trade and businesses.
I, Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku, will rather increase taxes on alcohol and betting and reduce import duties and VAT charges on imports.
This is my 2 cents.
