Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) stand a chance of enjoying some tax reliefs if Ghanaians vote the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama into power.
According to him, these businesses will be free from paying corporate income taxes should he be given the nod.
This will form part of efforts by his next administration to offer incentives to the business sector to cushion it for the creation of more job opportunities.
Speaking at a campaign interaction with the leadership of organized labour and professional groups at the Ho Technical University on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, the former President announced that the reliefs, which includes tax exemptions will enable private and public SMEs to recover from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic in a bid to expand their scope of production.
“Within the first three months of 2021, I will lay before Parliament several Bills that will seek to grant tax reliefs to SMEs. Effective 2021, small businesses will be exempted completely from corporate income tax. Corporate income tax for medium size companies will be reduced from the current 25% to 15%” while “newly established medium-sized companies that employ staff up to 20 will be completely exempted from the payment of corporate income tax for one year.”
“All newly established medium enterprises that employ more than 20 staff will be exempted completely from the payment of corporate income tax for two years,” he added.
Mr. Mahama also disclosed that his government will from 2021, exempt all other equipment imported into the country for commercial, industry and agricultural purposes from import duties.
President Akufo-Addo had earlier announced that a GH¢600 million soft loan scheme with a two-year repayment plan had been put in place by the government to support micro, small and medium scale businesses in these difficult times.
According to Akufo-Addo, persons who access these loans will have a one-year grace period before beginning repayment.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ghana and a partial lockdown on Accra and Kumasi as a result of the disease, most businesses in major economic hubs had been inactive, thereby limiting the income of most citizens.
It is for this reason that the government decided to among other things, support SMEs by giving this money to them.
Meanwhile, the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), in June, indicated that it had so far disbursed over GH¢57 million to the SMEs.
In all, over 64,000 businesses captured under the Adom Micro Soft Loans for Micro Enterprises received the loans through the Vodafone Cash platform.
