By Nii Martey M. Botchway
Accra, Nov 24, GNA – The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications says telecommunication companies have paid taxes and other remittances worth GHC6.07 billion to the government in 2022.
Speaking at the launch of the 2022 Mobile Industry Transparency Initiative Report in Accra, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, said the total taxes and other remittances paid by the industry to government and its agencies resulted in total payments of GHC 6.07 billion, forming approximately 8.02 per cent of government’s 2022 tax and other revenues.
He said out of the GHC 6.07 billion, 1.7 billion went to Corporate Income Tax; 922.9 million went to Value Added Tax, 679.4 million went to Withholding tax; 482.8 million went to electronic levy; 768 million went to NHIL, GETF levy and COVID-19; 511.6 million went to Communications Service Tax; 175.18 million went to PAYE and 560.7 million went to other remittances.
Launching the report, Dr Ashigbey called on government to grant tax holidays to the industry, saying it was overburdened with huge taxes.
He also indicated that beyond the taxes and remittances, the industry had created over 202,600 direct jobs and about 3.1 million indirect jobs in the mobile financial services sector.
He said considering the fact that telecommunications was foundational to ensuring real growth, it was important for the government to see the industry as a “cash cow rather than the work horse” that would drive other businesses.
GNA