Chamber of Communication calls for a reduction in tax burden on its operators

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (GCT) has appealed to the government to reduce the tax burden on telecommunication operators.

It believes that this move will help to increase growth and their contributions to national revenue.

According to the GCT, the telecommunication sector is overburdened with taxes, which is creating difficulty in enhancing economic growth.

Speaking at the 18th Knowledge Forum by the Chamber, Dr.Kenneth Ashigbey, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), indicated that the telecommunication sector is the foundation of all the other sectors since every other sector is dependent on it.

Also, the Sector continues to support the growth of sectors like banking, media, education, etc.

 “Almost every other sector is dependent on our sector now. We can attest to the importance of the telecom sector to Ghana’s development and fiscal stability, both through its contribution to the economy and government revenue,” he said.

“The sector continues to support and catalyze other sectors such as banking, media, agriculture, education, and creative arts, as well as facilitate social communication and stability,” he added.

Furthermore, Dr. Ashigbey noted that there has been a rise in the taxes paid by the sector. He said that there was a rise from GH¢1.7 billion in 2017 to GH¢2.2 billion in 2018 before peaking at GH¢3.2 billion in 2019.

Moreover, the CEO bemoaned the impact of COVID-19 on the inflows of foreign direct investment despite the growing demand for their services(voice and data).

In conclusion, Dr.Ashigbey noted that the industry would invest about GH¢3 billion in network infrastructure expansion in the next two years. This, he believes would increase data capacity by about 60 percent from 2.2 million terabytes per day to 3.6 million terabytes per day.