Ghana said to be losing millions of dollars in tax revenue from oil companies

Ghana is said to be losing millions of dollars in tax revenue from expatriate workers employed by the oil companies, including Tullow Oil and other partners in the Jubilee Oil Fields.

Some mining companies are also said to have engaged such expatriates, who do not pay tax by virtue of the immigration particulars they bear and because the offending employer companies do not use local recruiting companies and agents.

The Daily Graphic has gathered that the expatriates fly into the country with B2-tourist and B1-business visas, which do not permit them to work in the country.

The said workers then fly offshore and out of Ghana after 28 days without paying taxes from their earnings to the state.

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) confirmed to the Daily Graphic that some of the expatriate staff working on the oil rigs did not have the requisite permits but added that as of now, no framework had been developed to deal with the situation.

“The ideal situation was to ensure that these expatriates applied for work and residential permits and their salaries paid through Ghanaian banks,” a GIS official told the Daily Graphic.

The Daily Graphic has seen records from local recruitment agents that provide services to the partners on the oil rigs that show deductions of up to 25 per cent income tax to the state.

Source: Daily Graphic