Comedian Obarima Amponsah, widely known in the Creative Arts Industry as OB Amponsah is baring teeth at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for what he describes as strangling tax rate on ticket sales for his end-of-year comedy show.
OB Amponsah has revealed that the GRA is charging a whopping 21.9% tax on the gross total ticket sales for his 10th-anniversary comedy show scheduled to happen at the Bukom Boxing Arena on December 21, 2024. This tax rate implies that for every ticket sold for the show (GRA will take 21.9% of the price as tax).
The Stand-up Comedian described this tax rate as strangling since it has a huge significance on the total cost and profitability of the show.
With this tax rate, the Comedian fears that he might not be able to cover the entire cost of the show. Given this, he indicated that he is considering a possible refund of tickets purchased.
“Ghana Revenue Authority is charging me a whopping 21.9% on ticket revenue for my show on Saturday at the Bukom Arena. I am not even going to make any profit out of this event. If push comes to shove, we may have to refund everybody and settle with a free non-taxable show because this is just strangling.”
However, some critics of the Comedian responded that the GRA is working based on the country’s taxation laws, and therefore, OB Amponsah’s sentiments cannot be justified.
The ending of the year period is mostly the booming period for players in the creative arts industry since that is where most music and comedy shows are held for Ghanaians to wind down. The Stand Up Comedy sector of the Creative Arts Industry is mostly described as budding or developing.
With the critical stage of the sector, high taxes might discourage comedians and other entertainers from organizing shows, particularly when there’s a risk of not breaking even. This could lead to fewer events and a slower development of the entertainment industry.
Another critical impact of such high taxes is some event organizers might opt to avoid formal ticketing systems to evade high taxes, resulting in a loss of revenue for the GRA and less regulated entertainment events.
In addition, high taxes may push organizers to increase the price of tickets which may limit access for audiences who might not be able to afford them.
Industry players are, therefore, calling on the government to consider tax breaks or reduced rates for the creative arts sector to encourage its growth, similar to what is done in some countries for emerging industries.
