Special tax to be abolished

A bill that seeks to abolish the special tax imposed on some selected commodities was taken through the second reading in Parliament on Thursday. The Customs, Excise (Duties and Other Taxes) (Amendment) bill if passed would amend the Customs, Excise (Duties and other taxes) Act 2001 (Act 594).

According to report of the Finance Committee, the amendment seeks to bring Ghana's tariffs structure in harmony with that of ECOWAS countries. It said the application of the special tax is inconsistent and at cross purpose with the objects of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). "Indeed, Ghana stands to suffer retaliatory fiscal measures from her trading countries if this tax-type, which is discriminatory in nature, is retained."

According to the report, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, allayed the fears of the public on dumping saying government has several mechanisms to fight dumping of inferior goods on the Ghanaian market. "Government reserves the right to impose non-tariff methods and regulations to fight dumping." The Committee called for co-operation between government and private sector agencies to identify dumping practices and take steps to stop them.

In another development, the House has taken the Taxpayer Identification Numbering System (TINS) Bill through the second reading without dissent. The bill, if passed would provide a legal framework to the implementation of the TINS.

Mr Osafo-Maafo, who moved the motion, said the project, which started in 1997 aims at tracking the payment of taxes at every stage of production. He said certain unscrupulous manufacturing firms report false information on their activities to under declare their turnover. Members asked that all eligible tax payers should be brought on board since the poor worker has remained the tax bearer all this while.