Gov’t to tax calls on Whatsapp, Facebook & others soon – Minister

Gov’t to tax calls on Whatsapp, Facebook & others soon – Minister

Gov’t to tax calls on Whatsapp, Facebook & others soon – Minister. The Minister of Communications and Digitization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has disclosed that the government is considering generating revenue from calls on social media platforms. This, she said, is being done with collaboration from the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). Addressing the Mobile Technology for Development (MT4D), Ursula hinted that stakeholders in the telecommunication sector, especially Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), will be engaged on how government can shore up its revenue by taxing OTT.

We are determined to accelerate the use of digital technology, applications and services at all levels, build and protect our digital infrastructure, and enhance the capacity and digital skills acquisition of our youth. As you may be aware, it is only through tax revenue mobilization that such investments and more can be funded. “Currently, the government is losing huge revenues from the MNOs to OTT digital service providers as traditional sources of telecoms revenue like voice declines. It is important that we have a frank, open dialogue on this, and explore other sources of revenue within the digital services space to improve government domestic revenue mobilization,” Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said. Gov’t to tax calls on Whatsapp, Facebook & others soon – Minister.