Kumasi: Adum traders shut down shops in protest of ‘killer VAT’ on businesses

Thousands of consumers who thronged to Kumasi City for trading activities were left stranded following the closure of over 500 shops at Adum in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti region.

Most of the locked-up shops had red bands tied on them as traders say the protest will last for three days.

Members of the Adum Traders Association on Monday October 10 embarked on a sit-down strike over what they termed as an "archaic tax system".

The protest brought activities at the business hub of Kumasi, to a halt affecting over 25,000 people in the trading value chain.

Speaking to this reporter, a leading member of the Adum Traders Association Mr Christian Appiah said the current system of tax collection from the traders was not helping both government and the traders.

"What we are doing is in the interest of both parties, government has asked traders to collect 18. 5 percent tax from the final consumer which is causing many problems for us.

"The truth is, we as traders cannot collect that 18 percent tax for government and so we are asking the authorities to meet the traders and discuss the best way to resolve this matter.

"Now the Ghana Revenue Authority is chasing some of our members to forcefully take the taxes from them, and these traders are sometimes forced to pay tax from thier capital, killing their businesses," he laments.

Scores of traders who traveled from other parts of the country to purchase goods expressed worry over the situation and called on the government to immediately resolve the problem.