Telecommunication companies in Ghana have agreed with the government of Ghana to stop the upfront deductions of the Communications Service Tax (CST).
According to the Chamber of Telecommunications in a statement issued by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, the telcos will rather apply the tax through a tariff adjustment programme which will take effect on November 26, 2019.
“For the past few weeks, there have been several discussions on the implementation of the CST. The members of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications will like to reassure its customers that we have acted in good faith considering our intentions to engage all relevant agencies following the passage of the CST Amendment Law. The mobile industry considers the upfront deduction legal and implemented the current CST based on alignment with how the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) calculates and charges the CST,” the statement said.
“However, we understand stakeholders’ concerns and have aligned on the current agreement to implement a price increase to pass on the tax instead of upfront deductions. It is worth noting that despite this arrangement to stop upfront deductions, GRA will still calculate and account for the CST as an upfront charge.”
Below is the full statement