Review taxes in petroleum downstream sector — Dr Asamoah
An energy and environment consultant, Dr Joe Asamoah, has called for a total revision of taxes in the petroleum downstream sector with the coming into force of the price deregulation policy.
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According to him, high petroleum taxes had led to an increase in the prices of petroleum products on the market.
Speaking at the launch of the Energy Ghana magazine in Accra, Dr Asamoah stated that although government had indicated that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt had been paid, the TOR debt recovery levy was still being charged on petroleum products.
“We have been told that the TOR debt has been paid and yet the TOR levy is still on petroleum products. The taxes take a chunk of the prices on petroleum products.
“If you take away the taxes then you will not need to give the subsidies because at times the intended beneficiaries of the subsidy do not get them,” he said.
Abolish levies
Dr Asamoah also called for the abolition of the exploration levy, cross subsidy levy, uniform petroleum price fund levy and the Tema Oil Refinery debt recovery levy in order to redirect other taxes for collection outside the petroleum pricing.
He further urged the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to scrap the policy to review prices of petroleum products every fortnight, adding that Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) should be free to make daily or weekly price revisions as they deemed it fit.
As it stands now, the pricing of petroleum products is not in the hands of government because of the deregulation policy, which allows the OMCs to regulate the price of petroleum products.
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“With the deregulation policy, why would government want to charge something on the price of petroleum products?,” he asked.
He added that deregulation would provide variety for consumers in terms of quality services and prices and also give them the opportunity to explore for better satisfaction.
He said if government weaned itself off petroleum pricing, the subsidies would be invested in the development of infrastructure and other productive initiatives.
“It helps to avoid huge debt associated with under-recoveries and can also help to prevent shortages in the market,” he said.
Energy Magazine
The maiden edition of the monthly Energy Ghana magazine seeks to provide comprehensive information on the petroleum sector and provoke intellectual discourse to improve policies.
The launch was attended by experts in the energy sector who took part in an intensive debate on the introduction of full-price petroleum deregulation to prevent shortages and avert indebtedness.