{"id":4777,"date":"2019-10-15T15:54:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T15:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/ghana\/?p=4777"},"modified":"2019-10-15T15:56:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T15:56:10","slug":"govt-becoming-unpopular-because-of-communication-tax-ursula-owusu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/govt-becoming-unpopular-because-of-communication-tax-ursula-owusu","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t becoming unpopular because of Communication Tax \u2013 Ursula Owusu"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mobile telecommunication companies\u2019 \u201cunprecedented\u201d mode of implementing the Communication Service Tax (CST) is making the government unpopular, the Communications Minister has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful says it appears to be a deliberate attempt on the part of the telcos.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said\u00a0 on Monday that the telecommunication operators \u201cmay deny it but that is what has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that\u00a0the telcos are acting on the assertion that if the government \u201cwon\u2019t give them at least four weeks [before the imposition of the 3% increment in the CST takes effect,] they would do it [pass it on to consumers] in the most painful manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mobile telcos began an upfront deduction of 9% from credit recharges from October 1, 2019, after the government increased the CST from 6% to 9%.<\/p>\n

The Ministry, however, believes the tax should be deducted when consumers make use of services like calls and browsing \u2013 like other taxes are treated.<\/p>\n

This has created a standoff between the telcos and the Ministry.<\/p>\n

The telcos are asking for at least four weeks to reconfigure their systems to meet the demand of the Ministry. Minister, Ursula Owusu, however, believes this can be done in 48 hours, \u201cif the operators put their mind to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, consumers have taken to social media and called into radio stations to complain about the tax implementation.\u00a0Consumers who buy GH\u00a210 worth of airtime for internet bundle, must now purchase higher than that.<\/p>\n

The Minister says this has caused \u201cdisaffection\u201d for the government.<\/p>\n

Some have even taken it to her personally. She said she receives text messages describing her as a \u201cwicked witch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs. Ekuful says she explains to such persons that she did not impose the tax.\u00a0Taxes are imposed by Parliament on the request of the Finance Minister, she said.<\/p>\n

What is the purpose of the CST?<\/p>\n

The government says it wants to increase cybersecurity and protect consumers\u2019 data and the 3% increment would go a long way to help that.
\nAccording to Deputy Communications Minister Vincent Odotei, the CST is also going into increasing network access to the entire country.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s target, he said, is to cover the country by December 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we do all these when we don\u2019t have the money,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mobile telecommunication companies\u2019 \u201cunprecedented\u201d mode of implementing the Communication Service Tax (CST) is making the government unpopular, the Communications Minister has said. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful says it appears to be a deliberate attempt on the part of the telcos. She said\u00a0 on Monday that the telecommunication operators \u201cmay deny it but that is what has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":4778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[2331,3179,3178],"class_list":["post-4777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-communication-service-tax-cst","tag-mobile-telecommunication-companies","tag-ursula-owusu"],"yoast_head":"\nGov\u2019t becoming unpopular because of Communication Tax \u2013 Ursula Owusu - Ghana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The mobile telecommunication companies\u2019 \u201cunprecedented\u201d mode of implementing the Communication Service Tax (CST) is making the government unpopular, the Communications Minister has said.Ursula Owusu-Ekuful 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