MTN Receives $773 Million Ghana Tax Bill It 'Strongly Disputes

MTN Group Ltd., Africa’s Largest Wireless Carrier, Said It Has Received a $773 Million Back-tax Bill From Ghana, Including Penalties and Interest Charges. MTN Plans To Contest The Bill.

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The bill, which covers the period between 2014 and 2018, implies that MTN under-declared its revenue in the country by 30%, the company said in a statement on Friday. MTN said it received the notice this week.
"MTN Ghana is confident that it has paid all the taxes due during the period in question, and is prepared to vigorously defend its position on the assessment," the company said.

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Africa's wireless carriers are increasingly embroiled in tax disputes on the continent. MTN was victorious in a conflict in Nigeria in 2020 when the government was forced to drop a $2 billion claim for back taxes following a 16-month battle. More recently, Vodacom Group Ltd. has been caught up in a controversial tax demand in the Congo that saw the government seal parts of its offices and freeze its bank accounts.

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The Ghana Revenue Authority used a third-party consultant as well as a new methodology to assess MTN Ghana, the company said. "MTN Ghana strongly disputes the accuracy and basis of the assessment, including the methodology used in conducting the audit," the company said.

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Florence Asante, a spokeswoman for the GRA, was not immediately available for comment when reached by phone. Ghana, which was cut off from the international capital markets due to its high debt and loan service costs, stopped making interest payments on its external debt last month. The nation is trying to restructure its obligations to finalize a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

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In a statement, MTN said that the GRA had begun an audit of its Ghanaian business in 2019 to look into the "reliability and completeness" of the revenue it declared during the five-year period. MTN said that the GRA had not issued the unit with any guidelines or standards relating to its new audit methodology.

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"We will continue to work with the relevant authorities on this matter," the company said. "MTN Ghana is a tax compliant corporate citizen and we remain committed to that."