Operators sue government over double taxation

GhanaWeb reports that the country’s telecoms operators are suing the government over what they claim is double taxation of the Communications Service Tax (CST). According to the network operators, the government imposes a 6% direct tax on phone calls, and an additional 6% tax is levied on interconnection fees. The report states that since last year Ghana’s operators have refused to pay the additional tax liabilities. Peter Lyons, Director of Spectrum Policy for Middle East and Africa, spoke at a forum in Accra last year, calling on the Ghanaian government to review the CST, and despite the then minister of communications saying that a review would be undertaken, this is not believed to have occurred. A tax policy advisor to the government, Dr Larbi Siaw, stated yesterday that the issue would be resolved amicably, but first the operators must pay the arrears accrued last year.