Telcos targeting govt to make it unpopular – Dr. Assibey-Yeboah

Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah[/caption] Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance has accused telecommunications companies of working to make government unpopular because it is being efficient. Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah pointed to telcos’ decision to communicate directly to consumers on the effect of the Communication Service Tax (CST) increment. The CST which took effect from October 1, was announced by the Finance Minister in the mid-year fiscal policy review of the 2019 budget statement and economic policy in July. Read: Communication Service Tax goes up “Somebody is just trying to make the government unpopular, because the actual extent of the increase is just 50% from 6 percent to 9 percent,” Mark Assibey-Yeboah told journalists on Wednesday. He reiterated that when it was 6 percent, the telcos were not stating it, although he was aware they deducted it paid same to government. The New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for New Juaben, however conceded that telcos are not charitable organisations but are businesses that exist to make profit. “If anybody tells me [the 6 percent] was absorbed by the telcos, that is absurd because you were paying some money,” he retorted. “I think that because of the effective monitoring that is going on, of the telcos, they are unhappy and now they seek to make government unpopular,” he stressed. The Communications Service Tax was introduced in 2008 at an ad valorem rate of six percent. “Government proposes to increase the tax to nine percent to develop the foundation for the creation of a viable technology ecosystem in the country,” the Finance minister explained when the budget was reviewed. Source: 3news.com | Ghana]]>