Dr Alex Ampaabeng, Ghana’s Deputy Finance Minister, is advocating for the taxation of digital platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and others as a means to bolster the nation’s economy.
He argues that these digital platforms and online trading companies, both local and international, should be subject to taxation as they generate substantial revenues from Ghanaian clientele.
Dr Ampaabeng questions the exclusion of these commercial platforms, which run numerous adverts, from Ghana’s tax system. He highlights e-commerce giants like Jiji, Jumia, and Tonaton as examples, surpassing all physical marketplaces in Ghana in terms of size and revenue garnered from their operations.
“I can’t think of a country which has not gotten a digital service tax system of some sort, so Ghana is long overdue. Just to make an example so that people will appreciate where I’m coming from. Go to YouTube and play a video, within one or two minutes, you are going to watch about two or three adverts.
“What it tells you is that Facebook or YouTube is making profits right here in Ghana. Go to your Facebook account, and you are going to see a number of adverts on your right and left. What it is telling you is that Facebook is making profits right here in Ghana and not being taxed. “Meanwhile, companies are operating in Ghana for jurisdiction reasons, of course, that are being taxed.
“So then, it comes to the question of the application of our tax laws. Revenues generated in Ghana are subject to taxes. We have Facebook, TikTok and all those players. These are digital platform owners,” Dr Ampaabeng said in a report on citinewsroom.com.
“Then we have the digital or market players. Here, we are talking about individuals who are using digital platforms. We have Jiji, Jumia, and Tonaton, these combined are bigger than all physical marketplaces in Ghana. It tells you the volume of transactions that are going on there,” he said.