Young Entrepreneurs tax holiday in Ghana! (Updated!)

A few days ago I made a thread on Twitter about Government's new tax relief for young entrepreneurs. It got a whole lot of people interested. Some even said it was too good to be true but ladies and gentlemen I'm here to let you know that it's very true and is easier than you think to be part of this initiative. Now let's start with the basics; what this is and who needs it.

Last year, government decided to help small businesses run by young people in Ghana (18 to 35 years) make doing business easier and more cost effective. It's no hidden fact that small businesses contribute a lot to the country's economy. More local businesses means more employed people that government doesn't have to worry about, income generation and in some cases foreign currency in the system from international trade and lots more. With this initiative any young Ghanaian business owner will be able to enjoy a tax holiday for 3 to 5 years.

There's no doubt that this is an awesome deal especially now that government is very strict on taxes. Young business owners can now focus on reinvesting and scaling their startups. This also opens doors for small businesses that have been 'running' away from GRA to boldly be legitimate with all the documentation needed to bid for big state and international contracts. No need to be worried about contracts that require a tax record. This will also generally give many business owners peace of mind.

You don't need much to enjoy this tax holiday. The requirements are very simple. You need to be a Ghanaian not younger than 18 and not older than 35. Once you fall within the age group grab your business registration documents. It could be sole proprietorship, partnership or limited liability, it doesn't matter. If you haven't registered your business yet now is the time to get that done! Send a photo copy of the documents including your TIN to the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) office close to Wild Gecko around Shiashi and fill a form. In total you will also need the following documents

1. An application letter on your company's letter head 
2. Company profile with directors and management 
3. Two photocopies of bio data page of your passport 
4. Two copies of your Certificate of incorporation from Registrer General 
5. Two copies of your Certificate to Commence Business from Registrer General 
6. Two copies of your business operating permit licence from AMA, TMA etc (You don't need this if you don't own a shop/office) 
7. Two copies of Regulatory Certificate from your industry regulator like Bank of Ghana, Petroleum Commission, NIC etc (This is for the big boy businesses. If your industry doesn't have a regulatory body you don't need this) 

* Side note: The procedure is not free. You will need to pay 500 Cedis for this initiative. I found this out when I applied for it myself. So carry some cash along! 

So that's about it. A bunch of photocopies, 500 Cedis and letters for tax exemption! It may seem a bit long but the benefits are pretty good. I don't know about you but GRA has been pretty scary these couple of years. If Metro TV and other big businesses were closed down by them for unpaid taxes is it my small business that will survive? 🤣

Now the processing time is about a week but based in the schedule of the NEIP it may be longer. Mine took 2 weeks because they had an event outside Accra but I wasn't in a hurry so it was fine. After your letter from the NEIP stating that you are tax exempt for 1 year is ready you will pick it up and send a copy to GRA. If you have a folder at GRA already that's splendid, all you need to do is present this letter to them and they will make you tax exempt. This isn't 0% tax though. GRA will take 1% of your profits for administrative purposes (making your folder, contacting you if they need to etc). So that's it. I didn't have a folder at GRA so I had to make one.

I also heard there are possible extensions for women and people with disabilities so you may want to ask about that if you fall under these categories. I did a quick search online and found the number for the NEIP office. You can call them on 029 900 3839 (the number looks weird but it works) for more information. Let me know how it goes :)

New year, new vim

Don't you just love the new year? People are wishing you good things here and there, some are throwing parties, making resolutions and filling the air with excitement. It's like all of a sudden some vim has just appeared from nowhere. This is good!

The only problem with the new year energy is that it's always shortlived.  We are positive, optimistic, set resolutions in joy and by February our brains just say "forget that chale." Just like that oh but this year I want to spice things up a little. I put together a few things that I'm planning to use to help me go through the old year with vim!

I'm going to...

1. Count my blessings 
2. Celebrate my successes no matter how small they are
3. Be flexible with my plans/goals
4. Give more
5. Share more of what I know with others

So this is my little plan. Did I add I'll be making some changes to this blog as well? I'm not going to ruin the surprise by telling you what it is but if I'm to give a clue... it's pure awesomeness! Happy New Year everyone :) 

November Surprise!

 This month I've decided to do something new. I'm having a few blog posts from some really cool bloggers I know! I will be putting up their awesome work and a little information about them as well. It's going to be really exciting as you dive into their creative minds through their articles, poems and stories.

I may drop a story or two myself within the month, who knows but I'm also taking this opportunity to work on a few things on the blog to make it super cool! Watch this space 😊. If you know any bloggers who will like to be featured this month drop me a comment and let's set the ball rolling.

Have a splendid November!!!

My Birthday break

So yesterday, 14th September was my birthday! I had such an awesome time I couldn't write today's episode of Closure. My husband, Tim planned a very awesome celebration for me. It was so much fun that I practically spent the whole day today sleeping.

Good news is that I'm going to make Sunday's edition a bit longer. 😊 Abi that's fair? So next episode of Closure drops this Sunday knorr. Follow my blog for notifications whenever there's a new post if you haven't done that already and thanks for reading 😊

Warm Regards,
Julz

Time no dey

Time wasting is like kente in Ghana, it's part of our culture. Ghanaians find all sorts of creative ways to waste each other's time. Sometimes it almost feels like a sport. One that has no ending time. Then again it could be a game to the death. We waste each other's time ahhh till we die. You go to the bank they waste your time, you go to the restaurant they waste your time, you die and are ready to be buried sef they will waste your time. No one is safe at any stage!
I'm sure you are reading this and going like "I know right? Ghana dier so so time wasting" but you naa you are part of the problem. That doesn't mean you should stop reading oh. I beg. But let's be honest we are either equally a time waster or you are helping this very bad habit. I'm not excuded oh. In fact far from it. I'm also one of the Dj Time Wasters but let's look at this on a whole shall we?

To be honest I'm tired of waiting. I'm not saying making someone wait is a crime but at least people need to know it's not good. One day I was asked to come for a meeting at 2pm. The person told me not to be late so I got there just before 2 and had to wait for an hour because the person was out on his lunch break. What the hell?! I was not amused at all so when he finally came back I asked him why he asked me to meet him at his lunch time and guess what he said "Oh I didn't want you to come late so I'll have to wait." If it wasn't for the fear of God and good training my parents have given me I would have done something jail warranting to him. How is it ok for ME to wait?! People need to stop this thing.

Most people don't see anything wrong with asking people to wait. In their heads it's like "oh but will sitting down for 2 hours kill you?". Well it probably won't but will attending to me on time kill you too? We all know the answer to that. These days, you are actually tricked into waiting by your own loved ones. Who has ever been to a wedding where the starting time was a lie? That thing can pain eh? Some ladies have a limited time span their make up can last and you trick them into coming early, how wicked! I don't know about you but I don't want to start my marriage on lies. At least use words or phrases like 'prompt' or 'kindly be there early' or 'refreshment will be served just before the bride enters' or something just don't make me come and wait.

It's simple, let's just try to consider our fellow men and women. Let's put ourselves in each others shoes and act accordingly. There's the general perception in Ghana that if you require something from someone you should be prepared to wait no matter how long they ask you to and it's bad. Ei especially at Ministries. That place dierr it's just a place you go to wait. Let's change our habit because it's not fresh. It's time we showed some respect for each other because the honest truth is that you never know the amount of harm you are doing to someone when you make them wait for hours. So my dear Ghanaians unless you are ready to pay people, don't make them waiters *drops mic*.

My very own movie!

So for some time now I have been thinking of other ways to tell my stories. Some of these options were a radio drama, a book, animation and short film. Of these three a short film sounded the most exciting to me so I decided to work on that. I went through my short stories and found one that would be perfect for my very first video appearance. I wanted something unique, short and of minimal cost because I was ideally funding everything myself. After 10 was perfect!

 If you haven't read it yet here's the link http://azedi.blogspot.com/2011/05/after-10.html . In less than a week I will upload this comical 3 minute film online. It's not the most amazing short film but I believe it's definitely one worth watching. I have special thanks I have to give for the people that helped in shooting the video. Hilda, James brown, Duke, Ruth, Cyig, Roselynn and the biggest one to Tim :-)

A piece of Julz

It's funny how little we care about things till they happen to us. For a decent number of years before I was diagnosed I used to make jokes about scoliosis. I called and I still call chairs with curved back rests Scoliosis chairs. Back then I had no idea what was going on in my own back. All through high school and Senior high school I had some pains in my back but it was for short periods of time and not severe so I never paid attention to it. You see I was a very sporty person. I played basketball and swam a lot so the muscles in my back were pretty strong.

Having a swimming pool in my hostel during university and joining the basketball team there kept me on a relatively good path. The problem started when I graduated from University and joined the working class. No one ever prepares you enough for that. When I think about how 'stressed' I felt in school as compared to working a 9 to 5, I just laugh. Goodness I sometimes even wish I was back in school.

Moving on, I wasn't exactly carrying bags of cement or bending over to pick cotton, I was doing the usual office administration work but a lot had changed.

l  I was sitting for long hours.

l  I was standing a lot waiting for the bus to and from work

l  I wasn't getting enough time to play basketball

l  I rarely went for a swim because of proximity to the pool

l  I spent hours sitting at my desk on my computer even when I was working from home

Things had clearly changed. The pain in my back got worse until I went to the hospital. I had an x-ray done. Isn't it funny how the person doing the x-ray always hides when he's about to take your x-ray? Lol. A week later the results came and it said there was nothing wrong. I thought “hey, maybe it's my chair at work so I spoke with my boss and we had it changed. The pain also changed, it got worse. My neck also joined in. My mother who is a retired nurse told me to go and see a specialist, an orthopedic doctor so I did with recommendation from my brother-in-law.

I took my X-rays with me. The doctor studied them for a while, examined me and asked if I had certain pains. He was 100% spot on. You know how excited you get when someone describes an exact feeling? I was almost smiling. He diagnosed me with a mild case of thoracolumbular scoliosis. This simply means that between the thoracic and lumber portions of my spine it is curved slightly, in my case, to the left. He further went on to tell me that I didn't need surgery (woohoo!) but I would have to wear a brace :-( , a lumber support to be specific. He also advised regular swimming to strengthen my back muscles. “Why swimming?” I asked and he told me that because of the water it would put less strain on my spine itself while still strengthening my back muscles. Plus it was a cool (low temperature) way of getting a serious workout.

After that day I have had a completely new lifestyle. I wear a lumber support (which makes me a size bigger), I sleep on an orthopedic mattress, I take a decent amount of pain killers, I don't wear heels and try to swim as often as I can. So many things have changed. Scoliosis does that. There are times when the pain gets so overbearing it disturbs my mood and all my plans go out the window.

Rather than feel sorry for myself, I looked for ways to make my life cool and fun again. So I

l  Got a swimming partner :-)

l  Got a tablet to do all my computing needs while I lie down in bed

l  Altered my clothes so my lumber support doesn't look odd

l  Stopped my 9-5 and ran my own business. Check out zedighana.com 

l  Found a number of swimming pools close to me

Living with scoliosis is hard but the honest truth is that when you plan your lifestyle well, the pain will reduce drastically. I haven't gotten to the point where I go weeks/months without aches and pains but I'm constantly working hard to get there. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle :) 

Scoliosis :  a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side.