VAT on imported books: Ghana not there yet – Publishers association

The Ghana Publishers Association has said the government needs to slow down on the imposition of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on imported books.

The tax is geared towards protecting the local publishing industry and to derive revenue from imported books.

According to the association, though the idea is laudable as it seeks to also protect the local publishing industry, the country is not yet ready for implementation.

Addressing the media on Thursday, 14 December 2023, the President of the Ghana Publishers Association Mr. Asare Konadu Yamoah lauded the government’s efforts in protecting the local publishing industry.

The association is however of the opinion that the implementation of the tax on imported books, is too soon.

“We believe that the government’s efforts to support the local publishing industry is a laudable idea, as publishers, we do not want to fight against us, because we’re all in that industry and it will inure to our benefit if the industry is fully fledged and of course, we’re printing locally. But the situation is such that we’re not yet there”, he said.

The association indicated that the local publishing industry is not equipped to print some of the books that are imported into the country.

“Imported books have varieties, government or the local industry’s capacity to take on all these books local printing is not yet realised,” the President of the Ghana Publishers Association stressed.

The association further indicated that there are a lot of scientific and technical books that are not published locally in the country and quizzed the priority of the government in imposing the tax.

“Now which one is the priority of the government to promote education to let knowledge spread or to derive revenue from the importation of the goods?

“At the end of the day, will the VAT that is imposed resolve the balance if we’re able to do a critical investigation, you’ll realise that the money that we’re getting from the VAT will not suffice in any way,” the association’s president stated.

He added: “We believe that it should be a phased-in approach.”

It, therefore, urged the Minister of Finance to look at the imposition of the VAT on imported books.