The decision follows the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Amendment Law, Act 890, which waived the payment of VAT on paper raw materials for printing.

Announcing this at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the President of the GPPCA, Mr James A. Berko, said “parents buying exercise books and notebooks at the beginning of this academic year for their children will see prices drop”.

Addressing tax imbalance

Explaining the rationale behind the reduction, Mr Berko said the aim of the grant of waiver by the government was to address the tax imbalance between imported books and those produced locally.

He said imported books came into the country devoid of import duty and VAT, while imported raw materials used by the local printing industry attracted import duty and VAT.

He, however, added that the waiver dispensation was applicable to only members of the GPPCA and that printers who were not part of the association would continue to pay VAT on printing raw materials that they imported.

“Member printers of the GPPCA who procure their paper raw materials under the VAT Amendment Act 890 through the association, under conditions approved by the Ministry of Finance, do not incur any input VAT on the paper raw materials for producing textbooks and exercise books and, therefore, do not levy any output VAT on their sale of the above products,” he said.

Removal of import duty

He said it was fair that even though energy costs had gone up and the cedi had also depreciated, as major exercise and notebook producers, members of the association had reduced their prices by 12 per cent.

Mr Berko, however, added that while the law exempted raw paper products from the payment of taxes, importers still paid five per cent import duty tax, noting that as soon as that was also removed, the association would reduce the prices of its products.

“The GPPCA will not hesitate to initiate further cuts when the five per cent we pay in customs duty as a result of some lapse is fully removed,” he added.

He said the association was in talks with the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority towards ensuring that the tax on imported raw materials by local printers was removed.