The report that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has partnered with two major regulators in the country (the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the National Communications Authority (NCA) to help it monitor the amount spent on online services is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has partnered with two major regulators in the country (the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the National Communications Authority (NCA) to help it monitor the amount spent on online services.
The authority has also deepened its collaboration with the telecommunication companies (telcos) to ensure that online services by non-resident businesses were properly monitored and accounted for to allow for proper charging and collection of taxes.
The collaboration paves the way for the GRA to determine how much Ghanaians spend on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Google, among others, to enable it to collect value-added tax (VAT) from the non-resident businesses.
The monitoring of transactions also applies to betting and gaming companies that are not based in Ghana, although their services are consumed by Ghanaian residents.
The Commissioner of the Domestic Tax Division (DTRD) of the GRA, Mr Edward Appenteng Gyamerah, told the Daily Graphic last Friday that although the country had passed the VAT Act (2013), Act 870 that allowed the authority to impose VAT on online services consumed in the country, the GRA had been unable to implement the law.
Mr Gyamerah said the authority had now developed the needed tools and guidelines to be able to implement the law and collect the taxes due the state.
Consequently, he said it had set aside April 1, 2022, to start collecting VAT from non-resident persons and institutions that provided services for use and enjoyment in Ghana.
The newspaper says that MTN Ghana has started investing about $1 billion to upgrade its network infrastructure in the next five years to be able to deliver quality service.
The investment is also part of the company’s new strategy dubbed Ambition 2025, aimed at transforming the network from a traditional telecom (telco) to a platform or technology (techco) player with enhanced digital services.
Under this ambitious blueprint, the company seeks to build some key platforms, including financial technology (Fintech) solutions, MTN’s digital/Ayoba platform, enterprise solutions, network as a service and an application programming interface (API) marketplace.
It will spur the telco into a solid techco that can accelerate adoption of technology, impact businesses and support the economy.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, made this known at the maiden MTN Media Awards in Accra last Friday, at which two reporters with the Graphic Communications Group Ltd picked up awards.
Ama Amankwa Baafi, who is with the Graphic Business, won the Best Report in the Print Category, with Suleiman Mustapha winning the Second Runner-up place for the Print Category.
The Ghanaian Times reports that Professor Aaron Oquaye, the former Speaker of Parliament, has cautioned the citizenry to exercise their rights to criticise the government rather than touting coups d’états.
He asked such persons to also reserve their coup comments and vote against the government in the next elections.
“Categorically speaking, military intervention is not an alternative to civilian regime performance, no matter how abysmal and democratic determination of political preference after political mandate has been given to a political party is by mechanism of the ballot,” Prof Oquaye advised.
His caution comes in the wake of comment by Professor Raymond Atuguba, Dean of University of Ghana Law School, at recent public lecture in Accra, the country’s current financial state is threat to democratic governance.
According to Prof. Atuguba, studies had confirmed an ailing economy facilitated all successful coup d’états in the sub-region.
But Prof Oquaye disagreed with stance of Prof. Atuguba and admonished citizens not to return into ‘darkness’ because no person, no matter how learned or otherwise, should responsibly utter words to effect “if his/ her views are not taken, a coup may occur since a nation is either democratic and abides by practice among comity of civilised nations”.
He called on persons who were currently against policy of the government to stop touting coups d’états and exercise their right to criticise the government and also vote against ruling party as constitutionally provided for, in 2024.
Prof Oquaye postulated that those who had exposure to principles of good governance, legality and constitutionalism should mind their words and never make utterances which might mislead people in underdeveloped society and economy; nor give misplaced rationalisation to puerile military adventurers of any kind.
The newspaper says that the residents at the Weija ridge and reservoir areas in Accra live in danger due to ongoing illegal sand winning activities in the area.
The activities have created deep gullies on either parts of the ridge, which resulted in landslides whenever there was a heavy rainfall.
This came to light when a multi-sectorial team on Friday embarked on a verification tour of Weija to access the level of risk caused by the activities of illegal mining to the ridge.
Referred to as the Liaison group, the team included officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Water Resources Commission, Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR), Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) and Ga South Municipal Assembly.
In an interview after the tour, the Acting Deputy Executive Director of EPA in charge of Operations, Ransford Sakyi, said the group observed that activities of illegal mining had destabilised the ridge, posing danger to residents and affected the buildings on top and beneath it.
He explained that the situation since the last visit had worsened and could lead to disastrous consequences if not curtailed.
“I think it is time that we act as a nation on this problem. We are not doomsayers, but the fact must be said that there is a potential problem if nothing is done,” he added.
GIK/APA