Accra, Ghana//-The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has revealed that due to the scattered nature of data on COVID-19 donations to the Ghanaian government, there is the possibility that some donations may be omitted.
According to the Coalition, donors were grouped into individual, which were omitted in the report available, local and international or multinational companies.
The GACC made this known at a brief media in Accra on a taxation report commissioned by the Coalition on COVID-19 with support from OXFAM.
“The decision to group the companies into local and international was to assess how many of the multinational companies, thus key beneficiaries of the current tax exemptions will take advantage of the current tax incentive,” GACC said.
In the presentation by the Consultant for the Coalition, John Okyere on the topic ‘Cost-Benefit Analysis of The Covid-19 Tax Relief In Ghana’, he catalogued a number of benefits and implications of the fund vis-à-vis government’s tax relationship with taxpayers.
The COVID-19 crisis has had large impacts on government budgets and generated a fiscal crisis, as well as has forced almost all governments around the world to reduce budgets in some essential services in order to meet the healthcare needs of the population.
With the limited domestic revenue, Ghana likes most developing economies have had to rely heavily on external financing courses such as loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
At the peak of the pandemic, the Ghanaian government made a formal appeal to the private sector to support the government’s effort by donating cash and other resources including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help fight the virus.
The donations into the COVID-19 funds have contributed immensely towards the government’s response efforts to the pandemic.
The Coalition said the donations raised $17 million, which the government may have to borrow should the entities not given out to the fund, adding that the incentives could potentially build a positive relationship between the government and the business community.
The GACC noted that the donation which could partly be motivated by the associated tax incentives could strengthen corporate values as people become aware of such contributions.
“Tax avoidance is very high in Ghana, mainly due to the lack of accurate data about taxpayers.
However, this problem can be partly addressed by the donations as the tax authority becomes more aware of the donor (companies) and their financial position.
With the growing ethical consumerism in Ghana, there is a high possibility that customers may view donors as a responsible corporate citizen, which may influence their relationships with such companies,” the Coalition noted.
By Isaac Dzidzoamenu, African Eye Report