Tax Stamp: No Agreement with Gov’t Yet Association

The Food and Beverage Association has said the government has not reached full agreement with it on issues surrounding the implementation of the tax stamp policy.

According to the General Secretary of the Association, Samuel Ato Aggrey, it is not clear-cut as to the way forward on how the stamps should be applied.  He reiterated that beverage importers or manufacturers should not be forced to embark on investment that “they are not ready to do.”

He said the Association has proposed ‘digital stamp’ as a solution to the problem. He believes investment in this is not only comparably affordable but also yields optimum results in terms of revenue generation.

“Government, on the other side, stands to gain if it deploys the digital stamps; with this one, it’s only a software and a small machinery that would not even cost you more than 20,000 cedis, or even less,” he said.

Mr Aggrey said after furnishing the government with the proposal and several subsequent follow-ups with the Economic Management Team, the government is still yet to see reason with what has been presented.

He said the Association stands for tax compliance and does not seek to antagonize government.

Mr Aggrey spoke to JoyBusiness at this year’s Ghana Beverage Awards which saw one of Ghanaians’ favourite beers, Guinness, emerge product of the year.

On winning the award, Marketing Manager of Guinness Ghana, Lesego Lebogang Babe said, “I think it’s about constantly maintaining quality standards year-in and year-out; when it comes to meeting consumer needs when it comes to always make sure we are giving consumers the best quality products in the beverage industry in Ghana.”

Source: Myjoyonline