Members of the CSOs
The Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Tobacco, Tax Justice Network, Revenue Mobilization Africa, and Jaishi Youth Initiative have called on the government to quicken the passage of the Tobacco Excise Duty Amendment Bill in order to curb the dangers associated with the intake of tobacco as well as other health harming products.
The aim of the Bill is to increase excise duty taxes on tobacco, alcohol, spirits, carbonated drinks, sugar sweetened drinks, and plastic products therefore increasing their prices which will result in less purchases made by individuals, especially the youth.
The Bill is currently in Parliament and has passed the first and second readings. The CSOs are therefore calling on the government to hasten its passage into law.
Executive Director of Programmes for VALD Ghana, Labram Musah, commended the government for having the bill on its agenda and hopes that it will consider it as a way to rake in more revenue.
“We are hoping that they give the bill the needed priority so that quickly, they will debate it and have it passed so that we can have tobacco control properly regulated in the country… as it stands now, tobacco is very cheap in the market and government is also relying on revenue to run the economy. So the proposal has been made that if government indeed wants to get additional revenue, they should consider the taxing of these five product groups.”
Assistant Commissioner of Research and Policy at GRA, Alex Kombat, highlighted the support of GRA for the excise tax as it will help the agency meet its 2023 tax target.
“It is our hope that the tobacco mixed regime will rake in the needed revenue and reduce consumption of these products. GRA therefore wants the Bill passed into law to help us meet our 2023 tax target of GHS105 billion. The continues delay in passing the bill will negatively affect our target and revenue inflow since all these taxes have been targeted revenue to be collected during the year effective January 1, 2023.”
Executive Director of Revenue Mobilization Africa, Geoffrey Ocansey, stated that the passing of the bill is essential in preserving the workforce of the country as it will prevent many workers from getting ill as a result of the consumption of these products.
“The argument for most people in the industry is that they create jobs but also they affect the workforce directly. Because quite a number of people who consume these dangerous products are workers and it affects them. If persons are not able to go to work because they are sick and are down with the consumption of tobacco,” he shared.
By Abigail Atinuke Seyram Adeyemi & Nafisatu Abdul Razak