Car dealers welcome withdrawal of luxury vehicle tax


 
DEALERS in luxury vehicles in Accra have welcomed the government’s decision to suspend the luxury vehicle tax, saying it will help revive their business which went under for almost the one year that the tax was introduced.

According to the car dealers, the tax took a heavy toll on their businesses when it was implemented such that sale of vehicles with engine capacities ranging from 3.0 – 4.1 litres and above dropped drastically, leaving the vehicles displayed at their various sales point as show pieces.

On July 29, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, announced the suspension of the luxury vehicle tax introduced a year ago.

The tax levied vehicles with big engine capacities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals with the aim of controlling emissions and reducing the negative impact on the climate.

Even though luxury vehicle dealers have welcomed the latest decision by the government, they say nonetheless that it was ‘problematic’ right from its introduction.
Many dealers the Eddie's Dailies spoke to said customers had began showing interest in their vehicles and were enquiring of prices, something they had avoided doing since July, 2018 when the tax was introduced.

The luxury tax
Vehicles with engine capacities of 3.0 – 3.5 litres were to pay an annual tax of GH¢1,000; those with engine capacities of 3.6 – 4.0 litres paid GH¢1,500 annually while those having capacities of 4.1 litres and above paid an annual tax of GH¢2000.

Government had projected a GH¢136.53 million revenue from the tax and raked in only GH¢30.19 million in the first quarter of this year.
Parliament approved the removal of the tax on August 3, 2019 as announced in the mid-year budget review.

Heavy toll
“Before the tax was introduced I could sell about 15 luxury vehicles in a month. But one month after its introduction sales dropped to the extent that I could not even sell three vehicles in a month,” the 

Managing Director of De-Georgia Motors and Spare Parts Limited, Mr George Dwumor said.
The Chief Executive Officer of K & K Motors, Mr Kwame Gyasi, said “a day after announcing the withdrawal, some customers came round to enquire about luxury vehicles that had been abandoned for months.”

He said further that “with customers now expressing interest in luxury vehicles, we are hoping that sales would improve.”

The Sales Manager of Tony Motors, Mr Osei Pepra, said the company had sold three 4x4 vehicles in the past one week alone, a development he described as unprecedented since  luxury tax was dropped.

Contrary to concerns that the tax affected businesses, a Sales Agent at Europa Motors, Mr Ebenezer Appiah, said the tax did not negatively affect its operations since the company did not record a drop in the sales.

He was hopeful though that the withdrawal would boost demand for luxury vehicles in the coming weeks.

Positive feedback
In an interview, the President of the Vehicle and Assets Dealers Association of Ghana (VADAG), Mr Eric Boateng, said the association had received positive feedback from its members in regard of customers expressing renewed interest in purchasing luxury vehicles.

In his view, the persistent pressure the association and a section of the public put on the government played a significant role in the government’s decision to withdraw the tax.

“Our business virtually collapsed in the period the luxury vehicle tax was implemented. Responses we are receiving so far indicate that the withdrawal of the tax is doing business a lot of good,” he said.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ACCRA MEDICINE PEDDLERS NOW SELL PRESCRITION-ONLY MEDICINES

Image
A medicine peddler plying his trade along the Accra rail way lines PEDDLERS of medicine are doing brisk business in some markets and lorry parks in Accra, selling medicines that even chemical sellers by law are not permitted to dispense. Eddies Dailies has observed that the activity is prevalent in the Kaneshie, Agbobloshie, Makola, Kantamanto and Okaishie markets and some lorry parks and streets in the capital, including the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange area and the Tema Station. The peddlers sell medicines such as Tramadol, Cytotec, Dexacorten, painkillers, steroids, multivitamins, aphrodisiacs, butt enlargement pills, among others, that are packaged in transparent plastic bags and carried around in baskets. Some of the drugs, such as Tramadol, Dexacorten and Cytotec, fall under the Food and Drugs Authority’s (FDA’s) category of medicines that are to be sold on prescription. Aside from that, the peddling of medicine contravenes Section 110 of the Health Profes...
Read more

CHOKED DRAINS CAUSES SPILLAGE OF WASTE WATER ON KANESHIE-ODORKOR ROAD

Image
THE blockage of drains on the Kaneshie-Odokor-Malam stretch, largely due to the irresponsible disposal of waste into them has resulted in a heavy spillage of waste water onto the outer lanes of the road. The underground drains stretching between the Darkuman junction and the Odorkor traffic light had been clogged with silt, hence, forcing the running water to gush out from the various silt-traps chambers onto the dual carriage. To compound to problem, an unpleasant stench emanated from the spilled water, a situation which exposed motorists and pedestrians to lung-related ailments and other discomforts. The problem has been identified as a root cause to the perennial flooding of the area. The problem The dual carriage has an in-built single cell pipe culvert of 1.2 meters. It consists of chambers constructed at every 30-50 meters to serve as entry points for smaller drains usually connected from homes, offices, and other sources. As part of mechanisms ...
Read more

Open Defecation at LEKMA Southern Cluster of Schools

Image
Pupils at the LEKMA Southern Cluster of Schools located at Teshie in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipality defecate openly on the school’s compound while five toilet facilities in the schools are locked. Information pieced together by Eddie's Dailies, indicate that the facilities, four of which were renovated and one newly constructed, await inauguration before the pupils are allowed to access them. It was gathered that the project officially commenced in 2016 under the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project and supervised by the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly (LeKMA). It consist of two 12-seater W/C, two 10-seater W/C, and the newly constructed four-seater W/C. It was also gathered that work on the rehabilitation of the facilities stalled for more than a year but resumed in 2017 during which the pupils were restrained from using the facility. Following the long wait, the pupils, most of whom are in kindergarten and lower primary, resort to emptying their bo...
Read more