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Indirect taxes adds to cost of businesses – Mr Nakyea

By
Emmanuel Todd/Jessica Dele Akakpo, GNA

Accra, Dec. 11, GNA
– Mr Abdallah Ali Nakyea, the Managing Partner Ali-Nakyea and Associates, has
said indirect taxes add to the cost of doing business in the country because
corporate institutions transfer such taxes to consumers.

He said this had a
direct effect on the cost of commodities on the market.

He said this in a
presentation at the Multi-Stakeholder Business Integrity Forum (MSBIF) held in
Accra.

The event was held
under the theme: “Implications of government fiscal policies for business
in 2020 year of assessment”.

He said such
indirect taxes include the upward adjustment in the Communication Service Tax
(CST) rate from six percent to nine percent and the upward adjustment in the
Energy Sector Levy (ESL) with respect to power generation and Infrastructure
Support Levy, the Road Fund levy and the Price Stabilisation and Recovery levy.

He said if these
levies were properly applied to their intended purposes, business should reap
the benefits of stable energy supply and safe and secure use of communication
services.

He called on
government to hold stakeholder consultations with businesses and look at the
current structure where taxpayers are classified into large taxpayers, medium
taxpayers and small tax payers with each class handled by a distinct tax
office.

He said taxpayer
education, introduction of Electronic Point of Sale (EPOs), use of third party
biometrically verified data, re-examination of the tax appeal processes and
review of the tax exemptions regime would reduce the tax burden on businesses.

Professor Godfred A.
Bokpin, Lecturer University of Ghana Business School, said lack of sustained
macroeconomic stability, is a prerequisite for economic and social
transformation, which has hindered private sector competitiveness.

He said the painful
cost of fiscal adjustment and consolidation was accommodated through private
sector balance sheet and denied the space for expansion, which made them more
vulnerable to external competition.

Mrs Linda
Ofori-Kwafo, Executive Director, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), said the
MSBIF formed part of GII’s ongoing project aimed at creating the needed
platform for a cross section of stake holders particularly, selected private
sector and public sector institutions, civil society organisations and media to
identify emerging issues hampering the ease of doing business in Ghana.

She said this would
also map out strategies to help in policy advocacy with the aim to reverse the
status quo.

GNA

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