TUC boss calls for review of fuel tax regime

Ho, April 16, GNA - Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress on Friday said the petroleum-tax and the general tax regime in the country is pro-rich and anti-poor and needed to be reviewed

Addressing the first quarter meeting of the Ho District Council of Labour at Ho, he said the social impact mitigating levy on premium petrol rather than being a means of lessening the hardships of the vulnerable majority rather fuelled their hardships.

He said rather than using taxes to the advantage of the poor, the government was rather punishing the majority by imposing indirect taxes which are in the main regressive and hitting the poor hardest. Mr Adu-Amankwah said government should look for other means of mitigating the fuel price increases and not to resort to petroleum tax to do so.

He said the oil marketing companies are reaping about 40 percent profit from the current fuel prices while wages have not risen to that level.

Mr Adu-Amankwah said organised labour expected government to realise that taxes are very sensitive political issues on which elections were normally fought in developed economies leading to the defeat of governments which did not seem sensitive to their impact on the populace.

He said organised labour had no part in the decision to impose fuel taxes as portrayed by government.