Taxes kill Ghanaian businesses as foreign companies take advantage of tax holidays – Agyinasare

Company News from Monday, June 10, 2019

Source: clbadfmonline.com

2019-06-10

The founder of Perez Chapel International, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, blamed the bankruptcy of Ghanaian companies for the immediate tax imposed on them by the government.

Bishop Agyinasare, who preached at a Sunday Mbad on June 2, 2019 at the Perez International Chapel in Perez Dome, Accra, asked why tax exemptions are granted to foreign companies.

As a result, he said, the majority of mega Ghanaian companies are not owned by Ghanaians.

Bishop Agyinasare told his congregation, "Do you know that in Ghana we do not even have a business? We love foreign companies, we do not have any, all our shops belong to foreigners – from Melcom to Shoprite through our restaurants; Papayas, all telecommunications companies, we do not own any, from Vodafone to MTN by the way [Airtel/]Tigo, we do not own anything.

"We say we make chocolate, but Nestle does not belong to us, Unilever Brothers does not belong to us, we do not own anything.

"When a foreign company wants to do business in Ghana, we give them a 10% tax exemption that they can pay on time. A Ghanaian businessman creates the same business and from the first day he has to pay taxes and as a result, our businesses collapse.

"When a Ghanaian businessman creates a furniture business today, he has to pay taxes, a foreign company creates a furniture business. He claims to export it and then exports it. He always comes back here and the Ghanaian man who started is paying taxes and our businesses are not successful.

Last year, Dr. K. Y. Amoako, President of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), said that tax holidays for foreign companies are undermining Africa's growth.

He lamented the lack of strict measures taken by the government to mobilize taxes from international companies investing in African countries.

Mr. Amoako said this during an interview with the media on the sidelines of the opening session of the 2018 Africa Transformation Forum held in Accra.