Ireland signs Double Taxation Agreement with Ghana to boost West African Trade
Press release
07 February 2018
Ireland signs Double Taxation Agreement with Ghana to boost
West African Trade
Ireland has signed a Double Taxation Agreement with Ghana, an important step to increase trade with West Africa.
The Agreement, the first that Ireland has concluded with a West African country, was signed by Ireland’s Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, Mr. Seán Hoy andMinister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ghana, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, at a ceremony in Accra on Wednesday February 7th. Representatives from ESB International, Guinness and Tullow Oil, all of which have a significant presence in the Ghanaian market, were invited to join the Irish delegation at the ceremony.
Commenting on the Agreement, Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Ciarán Cannon T.D said:
“I have just returned from a visit to West Africa and was struck by the huge potential for Irish companies. At a time when our companies are seeking opportunities beyond traditional markets, this Agreement will be key in facilitating trade with Ghana which saw strong real GDP growth of 7.9% in 2017.
Ghana remains a strategic market for Irish companies in West Africa, mainly in the food and beverage sector. Bilateral trade between Ireland and Ghana totalled €43.4 million in 2016. Ghana is the 6th largest market in Africa for Irish food and drink exports. It is also an important beef export destinations outside the EU. Links in the education and energy sectors are also growing. The signing of the Agreement follows the largest ever Irish Trade Mission to West Africa in 2015 which was led by then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney T.D.
ENDS
Press Office
07 February 2018
Note for Editors
- Double taxation agreements seek to allocate taxing rights to one or other country, or where the income or gain remains taxable in both, to provide that the country of residence of the taxpayer will either exempt the foreign income from tax or will grant credit against its own tax for tax paid on the same income or gain in the other country.
- Double taxation agreements normally also reduce or eliminate source taxes on passive income flows such as dividends, interest and royalties which arise in one country and are paid to a resident of the other.
- Double taxation agreements also include non-discrimination provisions, which protect nationals of each country from discriminatory tax provisions in the other. They also provide for the exchange of information between the tax authorities of both countries for the purposes of counteracting tax evasion, in relation to the Agreement itself or the national tax laws of the two countries concerning the taxes covered.
- The DTA must be ratified by the government. Some sections apply immediately and affected citizens can apply from today for tax credits as applicable.