Accra (Greater Accra) 06 September
2002- The Precious Mineral Marketing Company (PMMC) has discovered vast quantities
of two semi-precious minerals, serpentine and jasper, in the Volta and Eastern
Regions.
The company is at the moment
negotiating with a Swedish company to carry out exploration to establish their
quantum. The two minerals, when refined and processed into carvings and
decorative ornaments, have huge commercial value in places such as Arizona in
the United States, which is one of the large markets in the world.
Mr Peter Boachie, Managing Director
of PMMC, said this in an interview after he presented a cheque for 300 million
cedis to the government as dividend for the year ending 2001 in Accra on
Thursday.
Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, Minister of
Mines, received the cheque on behalf of the government. Mr Boachie mentioned
some of the areas where the company had made the discovery as Anum and
Kwamekrom, all in the Volta Region and said the exploration of the minerals
formed part of the company's effort to expand their business and generate more
foreign exchange.
It would also generate employment in
the rural areas. Mr Boachie said other areas of prospect included forming
partnership with especially, private foreign companies to set up a factory to
refine gold and polish diamonds for exports.
He explained that PMMC needed
private partnership to be able to manufacture jewellery in Ghana because the
company did not have the technology. PMMC has so far contacted three foreign
companies, which were rejected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
because their method of using chlorine was not environmentally friendly.
Electrolysis would have been preferred.
Mr Boachie said the major problem
facing the company was the unpredictable world market prices of precious
stones, which dipped at any given time. He said small-scale miners, who were
the source of their raw materials needed larger concessions to enable them to
produce large quantities of gold and diamonds for sale to the company.
The PMMC has therefore contacted the
Minerals Commission to allocate more land to the small-scale miners. Mr Boachie
said PMMC sometimes have to purchase the minerals from 'galamsey' miners in
order to prevent smuggling into neighbouring countries.
Mr Adjei-Darko urged PMMC to improve
on its work in order to earn more than they do now. He said even though the
company had improved on last year's dividend, which was 200 million cedis,
there was the need to do more.
He said with regards to foreign
exchange contribution to the nation, PMMC recorded 29.5 million dollars in 1999
but declined to 28.9 million dollars in 2000. The figure improved to 31.7
million dollars in 2001 and stood at 17.2 million dollars as at July this year.
Mr Adjei-Darko said the latter
figure was an indication that the company would earn more than it did in
previous years but urged them to improve on their activities such as forming
subsidiary companies to allow for local and foreign private sector investments
in their operations.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 06 September
2002- The Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB) on Thursday cautioned
landlords who earn rent income to promptly pay the 10 per cent rent tax to the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to facilitate national infrastructural
development.
The Governing Board, however, urged
tenants who are companies, financial institutions, Diplomatic Missions, Offices
and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to withhold the 10 per cent rent tax
and pay it directly to tax administrators.
Mr Harry Owusu, Executive Secretary
of the RAGB, who was addressing a news conference in Accra, stressed that it
was an offence for such tenants not to withhold the revenue and instead paid
directly to their landlords.
The news conference was to explain
the revised Rent Tax Laws, Act 592 and LI 1675 as amended by LI 1698, which Mr
Owusu said was done to simplify assessment of tax liabilities for both rent
income earners and tax administrators.
Partnerships, educational
institutions, medical establishments, Ministries and Departments, Government
Agencies, International organisations, Public Boards and Corporations,
Co-operative Societies and Consular offices are the tenants who are required to
withhold the 10 per cent rent tax for payment to the IRS.
Mr Owusu said, "I would like to
emphasise that any of the organisations mentioned above that failed to withhold
taxes on rent paid is guilty under section 88(1) of Act 592". He urged the
staff of the IRS to be fair and firm in the application of the tax laws and
ensure that withholding agents discharged their duties as required by law.
He said tenants that failed to
withhold the 10 per cent tax would personally and severally be liable to pay to
the Commissioner of IRS the amount that should have been withheld. The rent
income should be treated as investment income and taxed at 10 per cent of the
gross rent income.
It would be a final tax, which after
paying the percentage, a property owner did not have to add it to business or
employment income for it to be assessed to tax again, he said. He stressed that
the industry concessions such as the five years tax holiday commencing from and
including the year in which the construction of the property was completed
still remained unchanged.
The Commissioner of IRS has the
right to determine when the five-year period started and ended in such cases
where property owners gave out their uncompleted residential, or commercial
premises for rental, he explained.
He said the IRS had set up a Rent
Taskforces, which were currently working in Accra, Koforidua, Takoradi and
Kumasi, adding that it would be extended to other regional and district
capitals.
GRi…/
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