- Ghana’s Finance Minister has admitted that the country is faced with a challenge of taxing online businesses.
- Ken Ofori-Atta said he is optimistic the regulation for all citizens to get a TIN will help solve this challenge.
- He has called on technology firms to come up with innovative solutions in getting the tech industry to pay the necessary taxes to the state.
Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said that the government is developing ways to tax online businesses in the country.
Ken Ofori-Atta said taxing online businesses and some financial technology firms in Ghana currently is a challenge, but they would find a way out.
“Taxing them is really a challenge, but we have to find a way to do it because it is happening and I must say that business really exists” he noted.
He appealed to technology firms to come up with innovative ideas to serve as solutions in getting the tech industry to pay the necessary taxes to the state.
However, Mr Ofori-Atta said he is confident that the move by the Ghana Revenue Authority to ensure that every citizen has a Tax Identification Number, (TIN) will help in implementing an innovative strategy for the process.
“It’s like the informal sector, how do we get them to pay the necessary tax to the state? This is the beginning of the registration for the Tax Identification Number we need to find a way to enter into that tech business.”
Mr Ofori-Atta said this at the closing ceremony for the ‘Future of work in sub-Saharan Africa’ moderated by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christian Lagarde.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the IMF, Christian Lagarde said the government must ensure that domestic mobilization is not destructive to small businesses.
“Let me say that there is a need for a sustainable domestic mobilization but it should be constructive rather than being destructive to the businesses. We must grow our local; businesses.”
Source: pulse.com.gh
