The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana has expressed worry about the implementation of the three tax measures introduced by government on agribusinesses, agripreneurs and consumers in the agribusiness value chain.
The taxes – the Growth and Sustainability Levy Act (Act 1095), the Excise Duty Amendment Act 2022 (Act 1094) and the Income Tax Amendment Act 2022 (Act 1093), according to the government, will raise revenue and meet the conditions for a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
But the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana has kicked against theses taxes, saying, they are nuisance taxes.
On the Growth and Sustainability Levy, the Chamber said “it will be challenging to collect this levy from mining and petroleum companies that have stability clauses in their agreements”.
The clause states that no change in fiscal legislation shall affect them until after their stability period (which can be anywhere from 15 to 25 years, depending on the agreement).
The chamber explained that those without such provisions will likely try to internalise them, which will raise their production costs and lower their profits, ultimately increasing their taxable corporate income”.
regrading the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, the chamber argued that “it’s fascinating to see that these people pay taxes at the same rate (35%) as mining and petroleum firms, which is far higher than the rates paid by companies in the hospitality industry (25%), the banking sector (22%), leasing and agricultural sectors (20%).
It added that “if these wealthy people want to avoid paying taxes at a rate of 35%, why not form corporations and have their dividends subject to a final tax rate of 8%?”
Touching on the Excise Duty (Amendment) Act, it refuted the assertions that the act will help shore up revenue.
“Taxation is not all about raising revenue and so this act should not be seen exclusively as a revenue raising measure but a measure to deal with importation and consumption of harmful goods. In as much as the increased raises will bring-in some revenue that cannot be the main purpose”.
The chamber in the meantime urged its members to diversify their raw material sourcing, making use of alternatives available locally.
“Leverage the value-based pricing method to cost your products and services consciously cut the use of utility and fuel that is electricity and water. Ensure your factory or agribusiness limits wastage. Start making investments in other forms of electricity generation like solar. Leverage suitable technologies to minimise labour cost and extra expenditure”.
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