The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has appealed to the government to have a second look at taxes imposed on telecommunication companies.
According to the 2022 Mobile Industry Transparency Initiative Report, telecommunication companies paid GHC6.07 billion in taxes, and other remittances to the government and allied agencies.
The Chamber said that constituted about 7.28 per cent of the Ghana Revenue Authority’s tax revenue in the fiscal year, with the industry contributing 2.27 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
The telecommunication companies in 2022 paid 1.27 billion in Corporate Income Tax, GhC922,9 million in Value Added Tax, GhC679.4 million in withholding Tax, GhC482.8 million in E-Levy, GhC768 million in National Health Insurance Levy, GETfund Levy and Covid 19 levy.
They also paid GhC511.6 million in Communication Service Tax, GhC175.18 million in Pay-as-you-earn tax, and GhC560.7 million in other remittances.
Speaking at the launch of the 2022 Mobile Industry Transparency Report in Accra, Mr. Ken Ashigbe, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, indicated that about 47 per cent of the annual income of telecommunication companies went into the payment of various taxes, describing it as huge.
He, therefore, asked the government to abolish some of the tax components to lessen the financial burden of the companies, so they could invest substantially to enhance telecommunications services in the country.
Members of the Chamber stressed the need to abolish import duty on some telecommunication equipment, and smartphones, among others.
