Proposed Tax Measures from the 2023 Budget Statement and responses from Dr. Ali-Nakyea   The finance minister of the Republic of Ghana presented the budget statement to parliament on the 24/11/2023.   Below is the list of tax measures in the fiscal policy for 2023.   1. Introduction of withholding taxes on winnings from betting   Response: A good revenue mobilisation measure. Requires monitoring to ensure compliance.   2. Reintroduction of road tolls .   Response: Good, as the tolls should not have been abolished in the first instance. Automation will help in boosting revenue mobilization.   3. 2.5 % increase in VAT to 15% (with the decoupled system in place, the effective rate will be 21.9%)   Response: This is not a good policy as it will lead to increased costs and ultimately increasing inflation as prices of goods and services may be adjusted accordingly by taxpayers.   The best way would have b...

    Just recently, it was reported in the media that prosecution has closed its case against the 14 accused persons in the case of Major Mahama who was brutally murdered by a mob on May 29th 2017. This has sparked interest in a long-standing topic on why cases delay so much in our courts. We are in 2022. It’s been 5 years since this matter started and I dare say the case has traveled only 50% of its potential life span in the court. (could be more or less) The wheels of justice they, say grind slowly, but it grinds even slower in Ghana. Justice delayed is also said to be justice denied. This write up is meant to highlight some of the things that causes delays in the writer’s opinion and to offer suggestions on what could be done to reduce these delays. The writer being a legal practitioner, some of these delays affects his work. He therefore believes, that it is in the interest of us all to understand some basics about these delay phenomena in order to help us all have...

    Somewhere in the first quarter of 2010, I received a call from Alexnder Osei Owusu (Lexis). I was then serving as a National Service person at the Akuapem Rural Bank in Mamfe – Akuapem. Lexis was my friend in council when we both served students in leadership positions at the University of Cape Coast.   I had discussed with him whilst we were yet to graduate, that I would like to study law after my first degree. He had seen a newspaper advert which was almost expiring so he called to prompt me. He said, Nii, tomorrow is the deadline for submission, have you submitted already and my answer was a no. I therefore had to quickly get permission from the office to go and buy the University of Ghana Admission forms and apply for the Post First Degree LLB. Everything was hand-written on physical forms and submitted physically at that time. I did not have my transcript at the time and it meant, I needed to travel to Cape Coast the next day, get the transcript and some reco...