The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is preparing a concrete framework for the taxation of e-commerce in the near future.
The GRA has delayed the process due to the spread of the COVID19 pandemic
When it commences, consumption taxes will apply on e-commerce transactions, in addition to the income taxes already applicable on businesses that provide platforms for e-commerce activities.
Their not being caught up in the consumption tax net has given e-commerce channels further price advantages. However the commencement of taxation of e-commerce will remove that advantage as taxes charged will largely ,if not entirely, be passed on to consumers.
The Commissioner General of GRA, Mr Ammishaddai Owusu Amoah has indicated that while other sectors are being hit hard by the COVID- 19 pandemic, others like the communication, electronic payments and the e-commerce sectors are gaining tremendously.
“Today, data is one thing we are all consuming, therefore, we expect that those in that sector should see their revenues going up.” He said.
The Commissioner General noted, “at the moment, we have still not started taxing e-commerce. It is one of the things that are already in our strategic plan that we are working on for this year and therefore we will come out with a plan at the right time.”
As part of upcoming strategies, the GRA is currently putting mechanisms in place to automate the payment of VAT through the Integrated Tax Application end-to-end platform and other initiatives.
