Altar bread, Communion wafer, Tasbi, Sajjada, others exempted from customs duties, taxes: Did you know?

An exemption is a waiver or variation of a tax, levy, rate, duty, fee, or charge provided for under an enactment

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Altar bread, communion wafer, Tasbi, and sajjada are among the list of imported religious items exempted from the payment of customs duties and taxes.

An extension of the list captures altar wine, the Catholic rosary, altar frontal, altar linen, and vestments excluding choir robes and pulpit gowns.

This is according to the Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083) which seeks to inter alia, provide for an exemptions regime and scope of exemptions; set criteria for exemptions; provide for the administration of exemptions; and provide for monitoring, evaluation, reporting and enforcement of exemptions.

An exemption is a waiver or variation of a tax, levy, rate, duty, fee, or charge provided for under an enactment and could also include a variation of the timing of the payment of a tax, levy, rate, duty, fee or charge which results in a reduction in the effective liability of the payer.

Over the years, there have been numerous calls by experts for the passage of a Tax Exemptions Bill to harmonize the tax exemptions and incentives regime.

These calls basically stem from the concerns to the effect that such exemptions are depriving the nation of expected taxes for development.

Early 2021, the International Monetary Fund(IMF), in re-echoing this concern, described Ghana’s exemption regime as the weakest link in its effort to tax collection due to the over three to five percent of its GDP, that is lost each year as a result.

Added to the anti-exemption school of thought are those who have called for its complete scrapping due to the political linkage that carries with it the risk of being linked with corruption.

Expanded further, the Act mentions Zamzam and all other similar items imported for religious purposes used exclusively for worship recommended by the Minister responsible for Religious Affairs and approved by the Minister in charge.

Get the full Act here.