The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers(COPEC-GH) has called on the government to review downwards some of the taxes placed on petroleum products in the country.
It said government must further consider reviews on fuel taxes especially the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Margins as well as the repositioning of the special petroleum Tax to an ex-refinery position instead of the current fixed ex-depot position amount, or a further downwards movement from the current 13% on Ex-Depot to 10% of Ex-Refinery position as the tax levels continues to remain very high, accounting for over 51% on current ex pump prices.
According to the Chamber, the move will help cushion consumers against the rising prices of fuel on the market.
In furtherance to this, it said government must institute stringent measures to curb illegal petroleum sale in the country.
The Executive Secretary of the Chamber, Duncan Amoah the annual loss of GHS1.9 billion due to illegal trade could be prevented to save the country some money and also help in checking the increases in petroleum prices.
Fuel prices at various vending points are expected to increase up to about 3 percent in the first pricing window of June.
Speaking on the expected increase, Mr. Duncan Amoah said it would be prudent for government to intervene by way of a downward review of taxes on the petroleum products.
” …We’re hoping that the government will put in some measures immediately to either arrest some of the taxes further; we have said that the special petroleum Tax although has been reduced to 13%, if you do a repositioning of the special petroleum Tax from Ex-Depot position now to Ex-Refinery, we are quite certain that the amount will also go down further and will impact fuel prices.”
