Pass the 2020 rent bill before dissolving Parliament – CIBA

General news for Monday, September 28, 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2020-09-28

The Council of Indigenous Business Associations (CIBA) has urged Parliament to approve the new Income Bill 2020.

This bill, when passed, will replace Ghana’s current Dying Rentals Act (Act 220), which was passed in 1963 before the current Parliament was dissolved.

The new bill is expected to address current concerns about rents for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana.

“The proposed bill would allow for greater enforcement and address the entire issue of prepayment of rent and its associated issues. That is killing many of our members.

Imagine an entrepreneur who has to mobilize funds to rent a property for years, be it a store or a residential accommodation. That will mean that more than half of the amount will go to rent, “CIBA said in a press release issued in Accra.

According to CIBA, the revised Revenue Law, 220, states that ‘a landlord who demands payment in advance of:

to. more than one month’s rent in a monthly or shorter rent, or b. more than one year of rent on a lease that exceeds six months … as a condition of a grant, renewal or continuation of the lease commits an offense and, on summary conviction, a fine of no more than 10 units may be imposed penalty. However, the owners demand against the law.

The group also lamented how the willingness of foreign retailers to pay huge amounts of rent has put local businesses at a disadvantage.

“We envisage a new rental regime that is very friendly to the circumstances of MSMEs throughout the country and that the relevant state institutions strictly enforce to eliminate all the illegalities that are currently being perpetrated in the housing sector against tenants and release significant pressure on the working capital of MSMEs in the country to prosper ”, he emphasized.