Do not put cost of tax stamps on industry - AGI President

The president of the Association of Ghana Industries, Seth Twum Akwaboah, has said that contrary to news making rounds that the Association rejected the tax stamp policy, the AGI embraced it.

According to him, the policy is a laudable one that needs to be supported and enforced to it full potentials

“The AGI embraced the tax stamp policy, we had a few concerns at the time the act was passed in 2013, and we complained that we were not adequately consulted and rightly so but we have had series of engagement afterwards “he said

Mr. Akwaboah said, the biggest challenge with the tax stamps has to do with companies producing on fast speed lines.

He said, “Some have lines that are about 40 thousand bottles per hour, so we thought that fixing the stamps in such speed line is a bit of a challenge”

Mr. Akwaboah said, fixing of the tax stamps is slowing down efficiency but the policy is worth adhering to.

“Majority of our members have shown commitment to comply by the policy. In fact, the high speed manufacturers have made serious orders to comply,” he said. “We appreciate the need for this but we believe that dialogue is the best way out if anything crops up but I will like to make an appeal that government continues to bear the cost of the stamps because no matter the prize you put on it, it is a cost to production.”he said.

Mr. Akwaboah was speaking at the 4th CEO’s breakfast meeting in Accra on November 1st themed, Implementation of the tax stamp: perspectives, benefits and experience

Tax Stamps

The Tax Stamp Policy, which emanates from the Excise Stamp Act, 2013 (Act 873), was, on Friday, launched in Accra.

Tax Stamps are small stickers with security features supplied by government to some manufacturers and importers to be affixed to their products before they are released onto the market.