The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has asserted that the Minority in Parliament played a vital role in saving Ghana $150 million by contesting the government's tax waivers for 42 companies linked to the One-District-One-Factory initiative.

He elaborated that through the Minority's objections to certain evaluations of these companies, the waivers were revised from $459 million down to $335 million.

In an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View aired on Citi TV, Dr. Forson referenced a specific case involving an oil refinery, which he believed was overvalued in its assessment.

“We worked for Parliament to institute a guideline and also worked for Parliament to approve tax exemptions Act. Since then, the government started submitting some tax exemptions and upon scrutiny, we noticed something fundamentally wrong with it.

“For example, there was one tax waiver for a company which has constructed an oil refinery [Sentuo Oil Refinery]. The finance ministry had done some assessments and sent them to us for approval. At the time, they brought it, it was about $300 and something million. We said we wanted to see the assessment, we looked at it, and we asked where it was coming from, and they said the Ministry of Finance and Ghana Revenue Authority.

“My assessment was that the GRA and the ministry cannot competently assess what goes into an oil refinery. They have to do that with the National Petroleum Authority because they are clothed with the competence to be able to do that, before we can sit and consider it, to date, that has not been done. Until the NPA validates that, there’s no way I can support it…We have heard the refinery is a secondhand refinery. The assessment may have been bloated.

He emphasized the need for comprehensive assessments by competent authorities, particularly highlighting the role of the National Petroleum Authority in evaluating oil refinery projects.

Dr. Forson emphasized that their interventions led to a reduction in tax exemptions, saving taxpayers approximately $150 million.

He clarified that their concern was not against tax exemptions in general but specifically targeted those associated with the 1D1F project, citing instances of perceived abuse.

Regarding the release of the tax waiver request list for companies under the 1D1F initiative in May 2024, Dr. Forson reiterated their stance against certain tax waivers approved under the initiative, emphasizing the need for periodic reviews to address any abuses.

In 2021, the Ministry of Finance initiated processes to secure tax exemptions totaling approximately $335,072,712.13 for 42 companies under the One District One Factory initiative, as presented in Parliament through the Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083) by former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

“Since the time we stopped all of these, at the point, the value of those exemptions was $459 million… They had subsequently gone back, reviewed some of these tax exemptions and brought a revised amount worth $335 million, by that press statement alone. Based on our resistance alone, we have saved the nation almost $150 million. There have been some improvements. We’ve saved the taxpayer some money.”

“We’re not against tax exemptions in principle, but with this particular tax exemption for the 1D1F project, we have issues. For 2021, we felt that there was a need to review that policy because we have seen some abuses. And it’s only right at a point in time for a government or Parliament to review its position on certain things if you get additional information. From 2021, we took a strong view against some of the tax waivers approved under 1D1F.”