Accra, April 12, GNA - Act 546 of the VAT Law has been amended to reduce to zero rates all taxes on locally produced textbooks, exercise books and agricultural equipment, to create an enabling environment for competition with the international market.

The new law would make provisions for a refund of excessive input tax credit to publishers and manufacturers of agricultural equipment at the production stage.

At a seminar to educate printers and publishers on the amendment in Accra, Mr Albert Adams, Head of Fraud and Special Control Unit of the VAT Service, said the Law would also lower the qualifying threshold for VAT Refunds for exports, from 70 per cent to 25 per cent of the total output of goods exported within the relevant accounting period. The amendment also introduces additional requirement of repatriation of total export proceeds, before VAT refunds relating to exports could be paid.

Mr Adams explained that publishers would be required to apply for refunds of all tax inputs incurred during production, if books published met the Ministry of Education's Policy Document requirement of what textbooks were.

He said although the new Act 696 of 2006 would exempt taxes for publishers, printers of such books would still be required to submit their VAT returns on services rendered.

With this amendment, it will be obligatory for all printers and publishers to register with the Service in order to benefit from the scheme, he said and advised the general public to take note and be guided by the Law.

Some publishers expressed dissatisfaction with provisions in the Law, which they said would still not solve teaming problems in the industry.

They said the refund might be delayed and the situation would still encourage them to publish their works in other countries where printing would be cheaper.