The Coca-Cola Company has asked the Government of Ghana to review downwards the current excise tax on beverages in order to avoid a further cut down of its workforce in the country. The company says about five percent of its staff, especially at the Bottling Department, have been laid off because of the current tax regime which is stifling the company’s growth. The President of Coca-Cola Eurasia and Africa Group, Ahmet Bozer made these known when he led a delegation from Coca-Cola to call on Vice President John Mahama. Mr. Ahmet Bozer was at the Castle, Osu to brief the Vice President on progress made on an earlier discussions they held with President Mills. It came out that progress has been made on most of the discussions with President Mills. According to Mr. Bozer, a lot is happening to assist in the provision of good water and sanitation and to improve the fruit juice industry in Ghana. He opined that the high tax on their products was affecting them negatively, a situation he described as worrying. Mr. Ahmet Bozer further explained that there could be a drop in monies paid to government in the form of taxes since their production levels have been affected by the increment. Mr. Ahmet Bozer said government must do something about the current tax regime since it has affected the beverage industry. “There is a very delicate balance if the prices of the products go up too high. The prices of the products get impacted. So if the price goes up then the volume of our businesses go down, so it is a very delicate balance matter that we have to keep the growth, while making sure that the government revenue is not impacted. So we are still trying to ensure a win for everybody but at the same time we are trying to lower prices for the consumer through lower taxes,” he added. Meanwhile, the Vice President John Mahama has promised that government would review taxes on the beverages. He said government would task the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to conduct a review to enable government take a decision that would favour everybody. Source: Daily Guide