Ghana to review corporate tax exemptions for resources sector (updated)

Galiano Gold

04/04/2018 19:55

(Adds quotes, details)
    ACCRA, April 4 (Reuters) - Ghana plans to review its process
for granting corporate tax exemptions to mining and oil
companies as part of measures to eliminate fraud and boost
revenues, its vice president said on Wednesday.
    Mahamudu Bawumia said tax exemptions claimed by some
resources companies were not transparent, and in some cases, not
backed by records. He did not directly accuse any individual
companies of wrongdoing.
    "Improper accounting of resources on the part of
concessionaires is a major source of revenue loss and it is for
this reason that we are reviewing the exemption process," he
told a meeting of donors and Ghana tax and customs agencies in
the capital Accra.
    Last month the International Monetary Fund called on Ghana -
Africa's second biggest gold producer and a nascent crude
exporter - to adopt additional measures to boost revenues.
    Official data was not immediately available on the volume of
tax exemptions claimed by companies in the resources sector.
However, finance Ministry data seen by Reuters showed that Ghana
granted a cumulative three billion cedis ($678 mln) in tax
exemptions last year.
    "Our experience is that these costs that some mining
companies actually incur are really a black box. They are not
transparent. We don’t really know," Bawumia said. 
    Mining companies operating in Ghana include South Africa's
Anglogold Ashanti  ANGJ.J , Asanko Gold  AKG.TO  and Newmont
Mining  NEM.N  while oil production is dominated by
London-listed Tullow Oil  TLW.L  and Kosmos Energy  KOS.N .

 (Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo
Editing by Joe Bavier and Susan Fenton)
 ((joe.bavier@thomsonreuters.com; +225 07074101; Reuters
Messaging: joe.bavier.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))