The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has revealed that it would have abolished the controversial 10% betting tax had it won the December 7, 2024, elections.
NPP’s Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah, reaffirmed this position, stating that scrapping the tax was a core campaign promise.
“We (NPP) would have been removing this tax if we had won the elections. We would have removed it. We want to remove it and we support them (NDC) to remove it,” he said on JoyNews Upfront on Wednesday, March 12.
Ahiagbah commended the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for delivering on the promise to scrap the tax but urged clarity on tax policies.
He cautioned against confusion in the Finance Minister’s statements, suggesting that Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson might have mistakenly conflated the betting tax with the 10% withholding tax on lottery winnings.
“If the minister in typing the statement inadvertently confused the two, let that be clarified. We are not arguing about anything else,” he noted.
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, in presenting the 2025 Budget, announced the removal of multiple taxes, including the betting tax, Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy), COVID-19 Levy, and VAT on motor vehicle insurance.
“We have programmed the following taxes for removal in line with our manifesto promises. Mr. Speaker, we will abolish the 10% tax on winnings from lottery,” he stated.
However, former Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam, speaking at a Minority press conference, claimed the betting tax was never collected under his tenure, questioning the validity of the NDC’s announcement.
“Betting tax that they said they have abolished, we never collected. So to come and tell Ghanaians that you have abolished something you never implemented is to deceive the people of Ghana,” he argued.
The 10% betting tax, introduced in 2023, had faced strong public opposition, prompting promises from both parties to repeal it.
In August 2024, NPP’s then-presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, had pledged to eliminate the betting tax if elected. However, with the NPP’s loss, the NDC took the lead in fulfilling that commitment.