Scrap VAT Amendment Act – Importers and Exporters Association tells Government

The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana is calling on the Government to scrap the VAT Amendment Act implemented on January 1, 2022.

They note that this is responsible for the current hikes in goods and services in the country.

Per the Value Added Tax(Amendment) Act, 2021(Act 1072), the Value Added Tax (VAT) flat rate for retailers of goods has been restricted to taxpayers whose turnover is Two Hundred Thousand Ghana cedis (GH₵200,000) and above, but not exceeding Five Hundred Thousand Ghana cedis (GH₵500,000).

Also, the Value Added Tax zero-rating dispensation on African textile prints produced by local textile manufacturers has been extended to 31st December 2023

In a Press Release dated August 10, 2022, the group bemoans the above provision of the law and notes further that retailers whose annual taxable supplies exceed GHS 500,000 and wholesalers now account for VAT under the standard VAT rate regime, and are now being required to charge VAT at the standard rate of 12.5% on the value taxable supply plus other levies.

It, therefore, believes that if the VAT Amendment Act is reviewed, importers, traders, and consumers will have a sigh of relief thus calling for the following;

Either scrapping or reviewing the VAT Amendment Act especially on food items and other consumed items until there’s some form of stability in our currency.

Government should immediately direct the BoG to issue licenses to the various commercial banks to import their own forex to shore up the few dollars in the system.

Government should put in place measures that will ensure the current value of the cedis of almost 10ghc to one dollar is either maintained or reduced by the close of the year.

Moreover, the Association is calling for calm among Ghanaians relative to the vilifications of the leadership of the La Bianca Company Limited in the wake of the OSP’s findings against them in its latest report.