Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Telecommunications Chamber, Kenneth Ashigbey, has said that the Telecommunications industry in Ghana is highly taxed by government.
According to him, as a Telco company, you need to be competitive as a business to be able to attract the capital and the investment as to expand the services to Ghanaians.
He however affirmed that, the financial constraints brought on by government taxes and other levies, has led to the decision by Airtel-Tigo, MTN and Vodafone to increase tariffs.
Speaking on the Happy FM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, Mr. Ashigbey said that the impact of government’s decision to increase tax on Telco companies compelled them to adjust tariffs upward in order to stay competitive.
“The Telcos are just applying the law as it was passed in all their service… This is an industry that pays close to 40% of its turnover to the government in terms of taxes and fees in other forms.”
He added that, “The industry is highly taxed; you need to be able to be competitive as a business to be able to attract the capital and the investment to be able to expand the services, the under-served and unserved communities. You need to ensure the sustainability of the industry and also to contribute to the development of the country as an industry.”
The government as part of the 2018 mid-year budget review in July separated the National Health Insurance Fund Levy and the GETFund component from the old 17.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) regime, thereby making the two components straight levies of 2.5 percent each.
Based on this decision, Ghanaians will from November 1, 2018, start paying more for the services rendered by the Telcos.
By: Joseph Nii Ankrah
