The Ghana Chamber of Tourism Industries has welcomed government’s announcement of a reduction in corporate income tax for players in the tourism sector.
Speaking to Citi Business News, CEO of the chamber Prince Ntiamoah Boampong described the move as key to reviving the struggling sector.
In the recent budget presentation, it was revealed that the tax has been reduced by 30% for companies within the arts, entertainment, and hospitality sectors.
“At the reading of the 2021 budget the parliamentary Affairs Minister standing in for the Finance Minister made a profound statement which tourism industry players were excited about. He said there is going to be 30 percent income tax reduction for the second, third and fourth quarter of 2021 which to us is very good news because we have been advocating for the tourism sector for the past year when covid came in, the industry was badly affected and we were calling on the government to help the industry.”
He further stated that “Tourism or the hospitality industry pays over twenty taxes scattered all over, which tourism industry players are complaining every day about and we have been advocating about it. Tourism plays a major role in our economy and contributes heavily to our GDP, so anytime we are talking about the tourism sector we are talking about trying to revive a sector that will directly affect your GDP”.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and interim Finance Minister, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu during the 2021 budget statement and economic policy presentation in Parliament on Friday, March 12, 2021 indicated that this forms part of the government’s broader economic recovery plan to get the Ghanaian economy back to its previous state.
The government had earlier through the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has disbursed GH¢37 million to creative arts practitioners who applied for loans under the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS).
The over 24,000 beneficiaries of the program received between and are from GH¢1,000 and GH¢200,000 are from 12 creative arts associations that were supported by the Creative Arts Agency (CAA).
Tourism has been one of the worst-hit sectors globally since the outbreak of COVID-19. In Ghana, a number of businesses within the sector closed down while some others laid off a significant number of their staff to stay afloat since the pandemic struck.
The Ghana Chamber of Tourism Industries has been at the forefront of calls on the government to put measures in place to help the ailing sector recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
