Obuasi, (Ashanti Region) 20 Jan.
The Adansi West District Value Added Tax (VAT) Committee has visited a number of shops, hotels and communication centres in Obuasi to ascertain whether the operators are complying with the guidelines on the tax.
The visits were also to afford the committee the opportunity to monitor the initial impact of the VAT on the people.
The general trend was that prices of some commodities and services had gone down while slight increases had occurred in goods which were not affected by the 15 per cent sales tax.
At Afoakwa Enterprise Limited, dealers in Guinness products, the managing director, Mr Joseph Afoakwa, intimated that there had not been any price differentiation since the VAT was introduced.
He appealed for a reduction in the cost of the VAT invoice priced at 5,000 cedis, saying "since the invoices get finished in no time, the tendency is that the meagre profit margin would be eaten up by the regular buying of the invoices".
At Anyinam Lodge, Mr Nicholas Clocanas, financial director, said lodging and restaurant fees had been reduced following the implementation of the VAT and praised the government for introducing the tax, stressing that it would help in mobilising a lot of revenue for the nation.
Mr Kwaku Frimpong, a customer, who had an encounter with the committee at A-Life Company Limited, admitted that prices of goods at the shop had not gone up as speculated before VAT was introduced..
At Adom Chambers, Mr Justice K. Agyepong-Badu, a private legal practitioner, told the committee that even though the VAT office in Kumasi had registered the Chamber, no VAT certificate had since been issued, thereby creating "a setback for us".
Mr Adu-Mensah said the committee would continue with its educational programmes so that the district would not experience any negative happenings in the implementation of the VAT.