Ghana Telcos Reduce Communication Tax From 9% to 5%, Effective Today

Finance Minister announced the reduction in his mid-year budget review in Parliament in July this year as part of the COVID-19 relief packages.

Following the Minister’s announcement, the telcos, through the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (GCT), also announced the reduction will reflect in tariffs from Tuesday, September 15, 2020, because they needed time to reconfigure their systems for a smooth transition.

In a statement, GCT said, “We wish to notify mobile subscribers and the general public that…mobile network operators will adjust tariffs to reflect the 4% reduction in Communications Service Tax by Tuesday, September 15, 2020.”

It said the modifications would represent 5% CST charge and would be applied through a tariff adjustment on the products and services of telcos, in accordance with the passage of the Communication Services Tax (amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1025).

It quoted the chief executive officer of the chamber, Dr Ing. Edem Ashigbey, as saying “the tariff adjustment programme means when our customers pay the same price, they would enjoy more, which is in line with the government’s measures in alleviating cost burden on citizens in the wake of the global pandemic.”

According to him, the smooth reconfiguration of telcos’ systems to accommodate the commercial and technical requirements is a testament of the effective dialogue and stakeholder engagements led by the Finance Ministry, as well as its supervising ministry and agencies.

Dr Ken Ashigbey said each telco will notify their respective customers on the completion of the modification exercise and provide further transparency on the adjusted tariffs of their products and services while offering other relevant information post usage of these services.

He said the mobile industry remains committed to the socio-economic development of Ghana, and that remains “our sole object and focus in driving and supporting Ghana’s digitisation agenda