The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Emmanuel Kofi Nti, has served notice to churches by his outfit to start prosecuting pastors who refuse to pay tax on sales from anointing oil, holy water and other items.
This moves comes on the heels of a huge debate over whether or not the sale of these items constitutes commercial activities and therefore should be taxed.
Bishop Owusu Bempa
The GRA Commissioner-General said the only church activities exempted from taxes are offering and tithes.
He said the popular Obinim Sticker will be taxed accordingly because “it is income to him [Bishop Daniel Obinim].”
“The man of God; is he not an individual? And is he not accountable to the state for his tax obligations? There is an opportunity for us to look at it,” he said, refuting suggestions that taxing businesses owned by churches will be met with stiff resistance.
Rev Obofuor
But former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong,has said in another interviw that churches already pay tax and will continue to honour their obligations to the state once GRA clarifies which activities it plans to tax.
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