Telecommunication Companies are to publish a new cost of tariff, following the implementation of the Communications Service Tax.
The 9% Communication Service Tax which was earlier charged upfront after an increase from 6 to 9 percent in the mid-year budget, is now being charged as consumers use their airtime or data.
The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has assured that their members will be transparent in deducting the tax going forward.
“We will still continue with the transparency so that once you buy the credit and recharge, you will get to know how much you have recharged, and once you spend you know the prices of what it is that you have spent on it, and how much is left. We will keep on giving that information. So we will try to be as transparent as possible,” Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Kenneth Ashigbey said at a media briefing.
Mr. Ashigbey assured that once the tariff has changed, the new tariff will be published for the public to know how much the various packages will cost.
The effective rate of the CST is 7% with a 2% VAT totaling 9%.
The Telecommunications Chamber has however advised consumers to be prudent when using data.
“The bundles come with different packages so make sure you subscribe to the one that fits your lifestyle so you don’t feel cheated. Look at the things you want to use the data for and go for the bundle that can take care of all that, otherwise you will feel cheated,” Mr. Ashigbey said.
The Telecommunication companies resolved to stop the upfront deductions of the Communications Service Tax (CST), following a directive by the Communications Ministry.
The Communication Service Tax which was introduced in 2008 was pegged at 6% payable by consumers of certain electronic communication services — but the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta in his mid-year budget announced an increase to 9 percent.