A former Board Chair of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Prof. Stephen Adei, has kicked against the newly introduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity.
The government through the Finance Ministry has instructed GRA to collaborate with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) to implement VAT on households that exceed the lifeline power consumption.
The tariff which took effect from January 1, 2024, seeks to transfer VAT generated from consumers surpassing the specified maximum consumption level for lifeline units.
Reacting to this on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem Thursday, the economist said the power consumption VAT will further deepen the plight of consumers and make businesses uncompetitive.
Admitting the country was going through tough times and the way out was paying of taxes, he however noted that, this was not the way to go.
According to him, there are various sectors where taxes are not being collected and government can focused on them but always target the easy areas.
“There’s no doubt at all people will be worse off. We should be going after the billions of uncollected property taxes, monies been lost to corrupt, people trying to cut corners when clearing goods and people keeping huge sums of money.
But rather, we go after the taxes which can be easily accessed; like electricity and fuel. This worsens the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian who is already burdened with taxes,” he lamented.
Prof Adei further urged government to engage relevant stakeholders before implementing the new tax.
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