Scrap some taxes on fuel, reduce other taxes to cushion Ghanaians – Pru East MP to gov’t
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Pru East, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has called on government to consider the plight of the Ghanaian people and scarp some taxes on petroleum products to bring down the prices of fuel at the pumps.
On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, the fears of Ghanaians came to pass when the prices of fuel at the pumps jumped from a little over GHS8 to cross the GHS10 mark per litre.
With both private and commercial drivers now buying fuel at an unprecedented high prices, it is anticipated that the conditions of living in the country would get harder.
Speaker to Citi News, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has proposed that government through its Ministry of Finance consider scrapping nuisance taxes on petroleum taxes.
In addition, the MP of Pru East asks that government see to it that taxes that cannot be totally scrapped are reduced.
He said once this is done, the prices of fuel in the country will come down to alleviate the hardships on Ghanaians.
“When prices rise and the state is making the revenue from the higher prices, that tax should be taken away totally. The Ghanaian state has control over the taxes and levies and this is not the first time we have had high petroleum pricing arising out of global trends.
“Anytime it has happened in the past, and it happened under President Kuffuor, Prof. Atta Mills, under Mahama. Anytime prices rise beyond a certain level the Ghanaian state reduces the amount of taxes or even eliminates the taxes so that they give some relief to consumers,” Dr. Kwabena Donkor told Citi News.
The lawmaker continued, “We are calling on the government to scrap some of the taxes like the special petroleum levy and reduce those they cannot scrap.”
Dr. Kwabena Donkor in his interview alleged that the Finance Ministry is being reluctant to implement recommendations made by the government towards bringing down the cost of fuel.
Meanwhile, transport fares are set to go up again following the latest increment in the prices of fuel.
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