Government has increased the Communication Service Tax from 6 to 9 percent.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, made the announcement when he presented the 2019 mid-year budget review to Parliament, Monday.

The communications service tax (CST) is levied on charges for the use of communications services that are provided by operators in the country.

It is imposed under Section One of the Communications Service Tax Act 2008, (Act 754) and paid by consumers of the communications service providers who in turn pay all the tax collected to the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on a monthly basis.

Last year, tax revenue collected from consumers for using communication services in the country reached ¢420 million, representing an increase of 27.7 percent.

Mr. Ofori-Atta presented the mid-year budget review in Parliament Monday

The amount generated from the communications service tax (CST) was 4.56 percent more than the projected ¢401.8 million in the 2018 mid-year budget.

Despite these gains, the Finance Minister in his presentation told Parliament “government proposes to increase the tax to nine percent to develop the foundation for the creation of a viable technology ecosystem in the country.

“This will comprise amongst others putting in systems to identify and combat cybercrime, protect users of information technology and combat money laundering and other financial crimes,” he added.

Mr Ofori-Atta disclosed the increase will not be earmarked, however, the sharing ratio will be adjusted in such a manner that the national youth employment programmes continue to receive the same proportions as they are currently receiving.