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Ghana: Some in parliament opposed to telecom tax Print E-mail
Friday, 14 March 2008
Members of parliament from the opposition parties have expressed concern over the imposition of a communications service tax because of its potential impact on teledensity and mobile penetration.

The communications service tax is to be levied on charges for communications service usage other than interconnection service. The tax would be paid by consumers to communication service providers who are licensed by the National Communications Authority. The Value Added Tax Service would be responsible for the administration and management of the tax and would be required to allocate the money collected to the Consolidated Fund.

During the second reading of the bill, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Akoto Osei, said that the imposition of this tax is part of the government’s efforts to increase tax revenues. Revenue accruing from the communications service tax is to be used to support the government's development agenda including employment programmes.

The Ranking member for the Communications Committee and spokesperson for the minority, Harunna Iddirisu, said if the proceeds of the tax are be used to support the National Youth Employment Programme as stated in the memorandum of the bill, then the bill should be withdrawn so that the government could create a communication tax fund and commit it to the programme.

Source: Ghanaian Chronicle - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News.