The new vehicle tax, according to Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), will not lower carbon emissions.
The Emissions Levy Act, 2023 (Act 1112) will not only fail to cut carbon emissions, but it will also encourage individuals to avoid paying the tax, in his opinion.
The Executive Director declared that imposing the new taxes on cars won’t stop people from driving and that the government might lose money as a result of the new levy.
“They know clearly that it’s not about carbon. This is not going to prevent anybody from driving. They know you don’t have a choice. You will have to pay for it. The carbon will still be generated because the Ghanaian will have to move from one point to the other. There’s no way you are going to prevent people from polluting.”
Mr. Boakye continued, saying that by raising taxes on Ghanaians, the government is only attempting to exploit them.
He went on to say that rather than enacting a new vehicle tax, the government should impose taxes on particular activities in order to increase tax income.
He claims that drivers also pay taxes on the fuel they purchase in order to run their cars, on top of the new vehicle tax.
Listen below:
