Kosmos pays withholding tax

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
KOSMOS Energy Ghana has paid a total of $340,000 as withholding tax to the government.
The amount covers the five per cent monthly tax deductions from their sub-contractors and tax payment to the government.
The Country Director of Kosmos, Mr George Owusu, presented the cheque to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu who in turn handed it over to the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Maj Seth Ablor Sowah Quarcoo.
The Finance Minister appealed to corporate bodies operating in Ghana to be responsible to their tax obligations since the country depended so much on domestic revenue.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said it was the responsibility of the private sector to create jobs as it was the government’s role to create a conducive environment.
For his part, Mr Owusu said although the company had not yet started main operations and was not generating any income, it found it expedient to honour its tax obligations.
He assured Ghanaians that the company would not waste time on its activities to produce crude oil for the country and urged Ghanaians to get prepared to work hard.
Kosmos Energy Ghana, an affiliate of Kosmos Energy International, signed a petroleum agreement in 2004 covering the West Cape Three Points Block offshore in the Gulf of Guinea’s Tano Basin.
The West Cape Three Points Block comprises 1,957 square kilometres (483,600 acres) in water depths ranging from 50 meters to 1,800 meters (approximately 165 feet to 5,900 feet).
The company, which announced its discovery of oil in commercial quantities early this year, is teaming up with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in its exploration works.