Government Director of Inexperienced Tax Youth Advocacy, Benaiah Nii Addo, needs the federal government to sort out the foundation causes of inefficiencies confronting Ghana’s power sector, relatively than burdening the residents with new taxes.
Describing the federal government’s introduction of a 1-cedi levy on one litre of all petroleum merchandise as a “regressive tax”, the tax analyst famous that successive governments have failed in resolving loopholes which have leaked revenues within the sector.
In line with him, the introduction of sure levies by previous administrations didn’t yield the anticipated final result, because the sector continues to be saddled with large money owed.
These levies embody the Vitality Sector Restoration Levy and the Sanitation and Air pollution Levy, which have been anticipated to stabilize Unbiased Energy Producers (IPPs) funds and cut back money owed.
Different interventions, such because the IMF’s $3 billion bailout, conditioned on power sector reforms, a rise in utility tariffs, money waterfall mechanism, and the Energy Buy Settlement, have additionally did not cushion the sector.
“All these interventions have failed to attain energy sector stability. The electrical energy provide stays unreliable. Customers nonetheless face rising pay as you go fees, and industrial gamers proceed to function on pricey diesel mills attributable to an unstable energy provide,” Nii Addo famous.
He due to this fact argued that the brand new ‘1 cedi, 1 Litre’ levy wouldn’t handle the cash-crippling sector.
“This coverage shouldn’t be novel. It’s a part of a rollercoaster fiscal strategy the place the federal government reaches for low-hanging fruit, imposing taxes and levies with out addressing the structural inefficiencies within the energy sector. It’s unconscionable to maintain asking extra from residents who already obtain lower than primary utility companies in return,” he mentioned.
His group observes the continual deterioration of Ghana’s energy sector, the widening inequality, and socioeconomic challenges that perpetuate on gender, youth, and girls.
“Over the previous 5 years, a collection of financial insurance policies, tax measures, and worldwide bailouts have been touted by governments as options to Ghana’s energy sector disaster. Nonetheless, these have largely served as smokescreens, failing to resolve the core challenges whereas additional burdening the common Ghanaian, particularly the youth and girls,” he famous.
Nii Addo cautioned towards politicisation of the matter, urging the present authorities administration to take pragmatic measures to stop the income shortfalls.
“Equally, we warning the present opposition to not faux to look after Ghanaians once they contributed considerably to the current mess. From poorly negotiated take-or-pay energy agreements to the buildup of money owed to IPPs, their legacy continues to hang-out us,” he famous
The tax knowledgeable is recommending meticulous traceability and publication of all expenditure information of the power sector to the constant losses and inefficiencies, whereas calling for civic consultations earlier than implementing new tax programs.
“We name for the federal government to stop the fiscal maneuvers and decide to actual reforms, rooted in transparency, fairness, and inclusivity. Something much less is a betrayal of the belief of the Ghanaian folks, particularly the youth, ladies, and the category who inherit the implications,” he concluded.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Feedback, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform don’t essentially symbolize the views or coverage of Multimedia Group Restricted.
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