If you can’t subsidize LPG prices, don’t tax it – LPG Marketers to government

Government charged to remove taxes on LPG

18% tax imposed on LPG

LPG has an elastic demand, Kumi

Calls for the removal of taxes on petroleum products have intensified as the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association have reiterated the need for government to consider the move.

The association have noted that this is the only way consumption of LPG can be increased and sustained in the future.

Speaking to JoyNews, Vice President of the association, Gabriel Kumi described government’s failure to address these concerns as sad.

He said, “This is a product West Africa needs. In Ghana, we are not subsidising, but rather putting 18% tax on the product. If you can’t subsidise a product like what your neighbouring countries are doing, why put a tax on it.”

“So, we as an association have identified the problem and have been calling on the government for the past four years to consider removing these taxes on the product. We are not saying by removing the taxes, every Ghanaian will use LPG, but the product has an elastic demand.”

He further said that “every single pesewa you remove from the product goes a long way to affect its consumption.”

“We believe when the 18% tax when remove will rope in a lot more people to use LPG.”

In the first four months of 2021, total LPG consumed was estimated at 113,194 kilogramme This is compared with 99.427 kilogramme during the same period in 2022.