The Minority Chief, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has continued his bastardization of the federal government’s 2024 funds assertion describing a number of the tax waivers as ineffective, after tagging the overall assertion as empty.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta throughout his presentation of the 2024 funds assertion in Parliament final week Wednesday introduced some measures to cushion Ghanaians.
Some reliefs prioritized by the federal government embrace the extension of the zero charges of VAT on domestically manufactured African prints, elimination of taxes on domestically produced sanitary pads and domestically assembled automobiles, in addition to waivers on import duties for electrical automobiles and agricultural equipment.
To handle environmental issues, Mr Ofori-Atta additionally introduced the federal government’s plan to increase the Environmental Excise Responsibility to cowl plastic packaging, industrial emissions, and automobile emissions.
However talking on the Monday version of PM Categorical on JoyNews, the Ajumako Enyan-Essiam MP, who analyzed every of the tax reliefs introduced within the funds, singled out the waiver on import duties for electrical automobiles describing it as ineffective.
Within the view of the MP, solely a handful of Ghanaians use electrical automobiles within the nation, whereas there are only a few electrical charging ports for customers.
“Let me make this level, I don’t know what number of automobiles in Ghana are electrical. The place are the charging ports? What number of Ghanaians will profit from it? Ineffective “he acknowledged.
It’s to encourage the usage of semi-knocked-down electrical automobiles. We reside in an financial system that we’re even struggling to get energy. What number of automobiles in Ghana right now are electrical for them to say that we’re giving tax exemption for electrical automobiles? I don’t know when you personal an electrical automobile, I don’t personal one. And exit and discover out from folks. As an MP, I don’t know of any particular person or public transport that owns electrical automobiles” he reiterated.
The MP advised the Host Evans Mensah, that whereas the coverage could also be in anticipation of a shift sooner or later, it doesn’t serve any helpful goal now and won’t profit Ghanaians in any approach.
He mentioned the federal government should first give attention to creating the enabling atmosphere for the usage of electrical automobiles earlier than leaping the gun.
“So, it’s trying on the future in all probability however just isn’t giving one thing presently to the bizarre Ghanaian. What the federal government should do to start with is to create an enabling atmosphere for electrical automobiles. This [Tax waiver] just isn’t. The one to create the enabling atmosphere shall be entry to charging ports.
So if I carry an electrical automobile right here to start out utilizing it after I journey to Ajumako and for some motive I have to cost my automobile, the place are the charging ports? Which gasoline station can I park in and cost my electrical automobile?” the MP quizzed.
If all of them aren’t obtainable and also you begin saying that you’re giving exemptions for the one who brings the automobile, I would like to make use of the automobile right here in Ghana to ensure that I can use it first. The federal government is doing the reverse as a result of it’s out of contact with the realities on the bottom” he argued.
“What we want first is to, create the atmosphere for some gasoline stations to transform the pumps into charging factors, and create the atmosphere for the bizarre Ghanaian to have the ability to profit from it” he argued.
In September 2023, the Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, disclosed that the federal government is engaged on a coverage framework to maneuver public transportation from a dependence on petroleum fuels to electrical automobiles.
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