The price buildup of fuel has seven (7) tax components introduced by successive governments. The new Dumsor Levy of Ghc1 that Mahama is in the process of introduction will increase it to 8.
It’s imperative that clarity is brought to who introduced what and who imposed what magnitude of financial burden on fuel consumers through which taxes.
Out of the 8 taxes on fuel, NDC introduced 6 of them — Rawlings introduced 1 whereas Incompetent Mahama introduced strong 4 taxes in his first term, plus the new dumsor levy pending parliamentary approval.
They include:
1. Road Fund Levy which is 48p introduced in 1997 through the Road Fund Act, 1997 (Rawlings)
2. Special Petroleum Tax introduced in 2014 through the Special Petroleum Act, 2014. It was a 17.5% ad valerem tax. In 2017 NPP reduced it to 15% and later on converted it from ad valerem tax to a specific tax of 46p. This significantly reduced the burden on consumers.
3. Energy Fund Levy of 1ps introduced in 2015 through Act 899
4. Energy Debt Recovery Levy of 49p was also introduced in 2015 through Act 899
5. Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy of 16p was introduced in 2015 through Act 899
6. Dumsor Levy of Ghc1 in 2025
Under President Akufo-Addo, the following taxes were imposed on Fuel prices:
1. Energy Sector Levy of 20p through Energy Sector Levies Act, Amendment 2017
2. Sanitation and Pollution Levy of 10p in 2021.
The total financial burden relative to taxes introduced by the Akufo-Addo government is a paltry 30p whereas the financial burden of the NDC and Mahama’s taxes is Ghc1.60 + Ghc1 (pending), summing up to Ghc2.60 per liter.
Note: the NPP government zeroed the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy of 16p for November and December 2021 ostensibly to cushion consumers —that was a caring government.
Source: Charles Opoku Presidoo
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