Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) recently slammed MTN’s Ghanaian subsidiary with a $773 million fine. According to Ghana’s tax authority, the fine is an outstanding tax obligation for 2014-2018.
They claimed that MTN underreported its revenue in Ghana by about 30%. The $773 million tag also comprises penalties for non-disclosure and interest charges.
Why The Accusation Against MTN Ghana
Sharing its side of the story, GRA said the assessment was for an amount of GHS8,209,603,842.14. It also includes penalties and interest charges for the 5-year period under review which it claims the telecoms giant under-declared.
MTN on the other hand stated that the GRA is alleging it under-declared its revenues by as much as 30% between 2014 and 2018.
The audit was conducted by a third-party consultant as well as a new methodology based on call data records (CDR), recharges, and other data.
MTN Ghana stated that it strongly disputes the accuracy and basis of the Assessment, including the methodology used in conducting the audit.
It thereby rebuffed the claims stating that the taxes have been paid in the period of assessment and that it will contest the charges levied against it by GRA.
Read Also: Ghana Fines MTN With $773 Million Fine
Backstory
In 2019, the Ghanaian tax authorities conducted an audit of the financial statement of MTN. In the audit, they sought to determine if the tax paid by the telecom giant was reliable and complete based on the company’s revenues.
In conducting the taxes, the GRA claimed it used a methodology based on MTN’s call records data (CDR) and based on determined MTN had underpaid taxes.
MTN however retorted that it was not made aware of the CDR sequence-based methodology used for the audit. To avoid further review, they then agreed to hire a professional audit firm to conduct an independent review of the findings of the GRA.
Once reviewed, the professional firm stated that it was unable to support the conclusions reached by the GRA’s third-party consultants on the Assessment. Not caring about what MTN thinks, the GRA slammed the network provider with tax liabilities including interest payments.
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