Upfront charge of CST ends, new cost of data to be announced - Ashigbey

The Telecoms Chamber says the upfront charge of the 9 per cent Communications Service Tax has been reversed as at November 26.

This is according to the CEO of the Chamber, Ken Ashigbey who tells Joy Business that all players in the telecommunication space will to this effect unveil a new cost of data and call tariff in line with the Communications Service Tax (CST).

“Yesterday, (November 26), marked the end of the 8-week so the upfront deduction had stopped. You’ll find out that our members had started passing the 9 per cent CST onto the tariff. So, you’d find out that the price of the tariff had changed and the only reason is that the tax has been added to it.

“What then will happen is that if you bought 10 cedis credit, you will have that on your phone. Then you decide that you buy a bundle of 2 cedis so that bundle will include the CST,” he revealed.

This comes after warnings from the Communications Ministry to punish Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) for defying recent directives on the Communications Services Tax (CST).

The implementation of the CST has been a controversial topic, as customers say they are being cheated by the telecommunication companies.

Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, recently issued a statement directing telecommunication companies in Ghana to stop the upfront deduction of the 9% Communications Service Tax (CST).

This was in a bid to stop telecommunications companies from giving their customers less airtime than they purchased.

This means prices of data packages will be increased by telecoms to accommodate the 9% tax customers are mandated to pay.

Meanwhile, a tax expert has criticized the Ministry of Communications for issuing directives recently on the way the 9% Communications Service Tax should be charged by telcos.

William Kofi Owusu Demitia has said the three directives the Communications Ministry issued to the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) via a letter to the regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), should have come from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The CST, which has been increased from 6% to 9%, has been applied to any recharge purchase by subscribers.

For every GH¢1 of recharge purchased, a 9% CST fee is charged the subscriber leaving ¢0.93 for the purchase of products and services.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in the Supplementary Budget announced an increase in the CST from 6% to 9%

New cost of call, data to be announced soon – Ashigbey

The Telecoms Chamber says the upfront charge of the 9 per cent Communications Service Tax (CST) has been reversed as at November 26.

This is according to the CEO of the Chamber, Ken Ashigbey who tells Joy Business that all players in the telecommunication space will to this effect unveil a new cost of data and call tariff in line with the Communications Service Tax (CST).

“Yesterday, (November 26), marked the end of the 8-week so the upfront deduction had stopped. You’ll find out that our members had started passing the 9 per cent CST onto the tariff. So, you’d find out that the price of the tariff had changed and the only reason is that the tax has been added to it.

“What then will happen is that if you bought GH¢10 credit, you will have that on your phone. Then you decide that you buy a bundle of GH¢2 so that bundle will include the CST,” he revealed.

This comes after warnings from the Communications Ministry to punish Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) for defying recent directives on the Communications Services Tax (CST).

The implementation of the CST has been a controversial topic, as customers say they are being cheated by the telecommunication companies.

Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, recently issued a statement directing telecommunication companies in Ghana to stop the upfront deduction of the 9% Communications Service Tax (CST).

This was in a bid to stop telecommunications companies from giving their customers less airtime than they purchased.

This means prices of data packages will be increased by telecoms to accommodate the 9% tax customers are mandated to pay.

Meanwhile, a tax expert has criticized the Ministry of Communications for issuing directives recently on the way the 9% Communications Service Tax should be charged by telcos.

William Kofi Owusu Demitia has said the three directives the Communications Ministry issued to the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) via a letter to the regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), should have come from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The CST, which has been increased from 6% to 9%, was applied to any recharge purchase by subscribers.

For every GH¢1 of recharge purchased, a 9% CST fee is charged the subscriber leaving ¢0.93 for the purchase of products and services.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in the Supplementary Budget announced an increase in the CST from 6% to 9%.