NDC National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi has urged for the abolition of various fuel levies.
Severe pollution, BOST Margin, and Special Petroleum Taxes are not required now.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, “Some taxes don’t make sense.” On a litre of fuel or petrol, we shouldn’t have to pay a 10 pesewas sanitation and pollution (borla) fee, nor a 9 pesewas BOST margin.
“Most of these taxes, 80-90% of these levies, are unnecessary today. Former President Mahama instituted the Special Petroleum Tax when the international market price fell. We claimed we would collect it for two years and return it when the worldwide market prices rose.
“At the time, the worldwide market price was below $30, so we were losing money on oil shipments. Prices have risen to between $100 and $120 per barrel, whereas we benchmarked it at 61 dollars per barrel in 2022. Scrapping these tariffs would bring down the price of diesel and gasoline by at least $1.”
The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) made a similar demand due to increased gasoline costs in Ghana.
In a letter to Ken Ofori-Atta dated March 21, Secretary-General Dr Yaw Baah noted recent events have driven many employees, especially those on fixed incomes, below the poverty line.
“The crisis must be handled immediately, or many more Ghanaians will be forced into poverty,” Dr Baah cautioned.
The letter underlined the skyrocketing cost of living since January. “We urge the government to immediately suspend all fuel taxes and charges.
“This should reduce gasoline costs by about 15%. The ban should last until the world crude oil price stabilizes and the Cedi’s slide is halted.”
The TUC hopes the drop in gasoline costs would lead to price stability of necessary commodities.
“More significantly, suspending taxes and levies on certain gasoline goods would show Ghanaians that our administration is attentive to their plight.”
It also advised the government to reconsider gasoline prices and restructure the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to prevent crude oil imports.
