Car owners and dealers stage demo against luxury vehicle tax
A coalition of car dealers and owners on Thursday staged a demonstration against the luxury vehicle tax, by driving their vehicles through some principal streets in Accra and presented a petition to the Ministry of Finance and Parliament.
Dubbed: “Bobolebobo demonstration”, the demonstrators were from the Vehicle and Asset Dealers Association of Ghana (VADAG), National Concerned Spare Parts Dealers Association, True Drivers Union, Concerned Drivers Association, Ghana Committed Drivers Association and Chamber of Petroleum Consumers.
Wearing red armbands, some of them carried placards and had car stickers with various inscriptions such as “Ken Ofori Atta wake up”, “Vehicle taxes is a bad idea, Ken Ofori Atta”, “arrest the Dollar and stop the killer taxes”, Car dealers Y’enu yehu”, “Kill the killer taxes”, “Stop vehicle luxury tax”, “This is fraud”, “Give us explanation on luxury taxes”, and “Mr President remember your words.”
Luxury tax
Government introduced the vehicle luxury tax in August 2018 as a new policy to help raise more revenue.
The levy was imposed on vehicles with engine capacity of 3.0 litres and above.
With the approval of the legislators for its implementation, vehicles with engine capacity of 2950 to 3549 Cubic Centimetres were required to pay a levy of GH¢1,000, while those with engines between 3,550 to 4049 cubic centimetres would pay GH¢1,500.
Vehicles with engine capacities above 4049cc were also obliged to pay GH¢2,000.
The levy would be paid by the vehicle owner on the registration of the vehicle and subsequently on or before the annual renewal of the roadworthy certificate each year to the DVLA, the body authorised by law to collect the levy on behalf of the government.
Industry players
The Chairman of the six groups, Mr Eric K. Boateng, who is also the chairman of VADAG, said the group wants government to scrap the luxury vehicle tax.
He said the group is giving the government a two-week ultimatum to act or face their anger, warning that the group is prepared to embark on series of demonstrations across the country if government fails to listen to their pleas.
According to Mr Boateng, there were over 5,000 supposed luxury vehicles parked in the various garages across the country as prospective buyers have refused to buy them.
He said those who went for loans to import their vehicles could not pay back and that they are being harassed by their bankers.
He explained that some of the car dealers could not even afford to take care of their children’s education as their investment have been locked up in their vehicles at the garages.
Mr Boateng said the various interest groups that participated in the demonstration will not rest until government review the luxury vehicle tax.
He expressed concern that many business are collapsing as a result of the luxury vehicle tax.
For his part, the General Secretary of the Vehicle and Asset Dealers Association of Ghana, Mr Nana Yaw Owusu Duodu, said the impact of the tax “is so huge to the extent that our vehicles are not being patronised.”
He said importers of the supposed luxury vehicles pay huge taxes on the vehicles they import at the ports and therefore there was no need for government to let them pay the luxury tax.
“We are demonstrating against the nuisance tax policy being implemented by the government,” he said.
The National Spokesperson of the True Drivers Union, Mr Yaw Berima, described the luxury vehicle tax as ‘fraud’ and an attempt to collapse businesses of spare parts dealers and car importers in the country.
Rev Michael Amponsah Ababio, an owner of car with engine capacity of 3.0 said the tax is affecting his evangelism work as he cannot raise the tax as well as maintaining the vehicle.
The independent presidential candidate in the 2016 general elections, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah popularly known as JOY, who took part in the demonstration said, the ultimate aim of the luxury vehicle tax was to collapse businesses.
According to him, the tax is having a lot of ripple effect on many businesses, particularly that of car importers and spare parts dealers.
He was of the view that the tax was not well thought through and noted that government needs to urgently review the tax in order not to collapse people’s businesses.
Mr Yeboah who described himself as the president of the needy said if governmentdoes not listen to the cries of industry players, there will be unending series of demonstrations against the government just as it is happening with the “yellow vest” in France.
“Laws are not supposed to take retrospective effects but that is what is happening. This law was introduced overnight,” he bemoaned.
Assurance
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, Mr Patrick Nomo, who received the petition on behalf of the Minister, Ken Ofori Attah, gave an assurance that the petition will be given to the Minister for his perusal.
At the Parliament, Mr Emmanuel Akwasi Ayim Addo received the petition on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye.
Source: Graphic online