Creative Arts Players to Pay Tax Next Year

Creative Arts players have been given a two-month grace period to adequately prepare themselves towards paying their tax obligations to the state.

This was disclosed in a statement signed and issued by the Minister for Tourism and Creative Industry, Catherine Afeku, after some consultations with the Finance Ministry and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

She said between now and the end of December, workshops would be organized to educate industry players on their tax obligations.

“In this connection, the Ministry announces for the information of all players in the creative arts sector that it has received assurances from the Ministry of Finance and the GRA to the effect that between now and end of December 2018, workshops will be organized to educate artistes on their tax obligations, generally, and why it is the civic responsibility of every Ghanaian who earns an income to pay tax,” she stated.

This was after some actors, including Kwadwo Nkansah (Lil Win) and Mercy Asiedu, cried out loud that they were being harassed by the (GRA) over their tax obligations.

Last week, Mercy Asiedu, was reported to have said that she and her colleagues would rather go to jail than pay taxes to government.

According to her, attempts by the GRA to take taxes from her and her colleagues were unfair and did not make any sense to them.

Following that incident, the Tourism Minister accompanied a selected group of industry players, including Lil Win, Yvonne Nelson, Akofa Edjeani, Idikoko and Oscar Provençale, to engage the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta on the matter, and also about challenges facing the movie industry.

She also engaged the Commissioner-General of GRA, Kofi Nti, over the same issue, leading to the granting of the grace period.

“Going forward, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is working on creating an enabling environment, whereby paying a tax will not be a painful duty and that fulfilling tax obligation is done in a seamless manner that will be seen and accepted as a necessary civic duty of every citizen in the creative sector,” she said.

By: Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum