- 20 Marks
ATP – Feb 2020 – L2 – Q2 – Employment Income Taxation
Compute tax liabilities for Mr. Tein Escoba for 2018 and 2019 based on income earned in US and Ghana.
Question
Amanfro Plantations Company Limited was incorporated under the company’s Act 1963, Act 179 as a limited liability company on 1st October 2010. The objects of the company is to establish Rubber Plantations at Asempanaye in Western North Region. The company started operations on 1st January 2011. The company has not found its feet since it began operations due to managerial challenges. The board therefore approved the appointment of Mr Tein Escoba, an Agronomist and Rubber Production expert from Brazil as the company’s managing director.
The terms of Mr Tein Escoba’s engagement is that Firestone PLC USA shall be responsible for his salary of US$10,000.00 per month to be paid into his designated bank account in the USA. The Amanfro Plantations Company Limited would, in addition, pay him GH¢8,000.00 per month, with an annual increment of 20% on 1st January each year to meet his cost of stay in Ghana. He was paid a return air ticket costing GH¢9,600 at the end of his eighteen month duty tour to visit his family. He would be responsible for the payment of his taxes on his income due to the US Internal Revenue.
The company employed other management personnel in addition to Mr Tein Escoba. All the management staff of the company were provided with soft furnished accommodation at the project site in order to ensure an effective management of the company. In addition, all the management personnel were allocated chauffeur driven official vehicles with no limit for fuel usage. All other staff of the company were located outside the plantation concession at Asempanaye.
Mr Tein Escoba prior to his taking up the appointment in Ghana was paid US$10,000.00 to enable him relocate the wife and his two children in Mackiney, Texas USA. The cost of his transportation from Rio de Jenairo to the project site in Ghana was borne by him at a total cost of US$7,500.00. Mr Tein Escoba started work on 1st January, 2018 with the company. He paid a total tax liability of US$26,400.00 for each year on his income earned for the years 2018 and 2019 in the USA, for which he provided the relevant receipts to support the payment. He did not pay any other taxes in Ghana when a tax audit was carried out at the company. He realised the anomaly for his failure to pay tax on his earnings in Ghana and has approached you as a Tax Practitioner to help him file his returns, since assuming work in Ghana.
The average exchange rates of the cedi to the dollar for 2018 and 2019 respectively were GH¢4.8 and GH¢5.5.
There is no Double Taxation Agreement between Ghana and the USA.
Required:
Compute the tax liabilities of Mr Tein Escoba for the 2018 and 2019 years of assessment.
Find Related Questions by Tags, levels, etc.
- Tags: Employment Income, Foreign income, Income Tax, Tax Liability
- Level: Level 2
- Topic: Income Tax Computation
- Series: FEB 2020