Government hits jackpot

Government has bagged over GHC3.4billion from taxes imposed on petroleum products for the first six months in 2016.

Data released by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for products sold for the first six months of 2016 puts the total taxes at GHC3.4billion (GHC3,454,172,478.83).

This amount was raised from the total quantity of petrol, diesel and LPG consumed in the first six months of 2016 totaling 1.9billion (1,904,866,988) litres.

According to the NPA data, taxes that accrued from diesel sales amounted to over GHC1.9billion (GHC1,933,946,634.22) in the first six months of 2016.

Within the same period, taxes on petrol hit over GHC1.3billion (GHC1,369,418,485.64).

Government raked in GHC150million (GHC150,807,358.96) from taxes imposed on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the first half of this year.

In 2015, Ghana imported an estimated 3.6billion (3,687,235,032) litres of Petrol, Diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas.

Government made GHC739million (GHC739,229,625.58) from the 3.6billion (3,687,235,032) litres of Petrol, Diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) imported into the country last year.

New and revised taxes in the Energy Sector Levies Act, 2015 resulted in upward adjustments in the price of petroleum products by as much as 27%.

Consequently, the implementation of Energy Sector Levies Act, 2015 has increased petroleum taxes to government by over 500%.

This demonstrates the importance of the petroleum sector to revenue generation for nation building.

2016 first half breakdown

The total quantity of petrol, diesel and LPG consumed in the first six months of 2016 is 1.9billion litres (1,904,866,988).

The breakdown is as follows; diesel – 1billion litres (1,059,621,306), Petrol – 727million litres (727,307,652) and 117million litres (117,938,030).

Monthly imports

The monthly breakdown ofimports are;January– 281millionlitres (281,224,214), February –333million litres (333,711,453), March – 343million litres(343,332,450), April –326million litres (326,998,521), May –322million litres (322,392,830)and June –297million litres (297,207,520).

Price Stabilisation Levy -GH¢205m

Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy established to be used as a buffer for under recoveries in the petroleum sector to stabilise petroleum prices for consumers as well as subsidise premix and Residual Fuel Oil (RFO)accrued GH¢205million (GH¢205,032,851.84) in the first six months.

Power Generation and Infrastructure Support -GH¢533m

The component of the taxes that went into the Power Generation and Infrastructure Support was GH¢533million (533,362,756.64).

According to government, this money would be used to support the payment of powerutility debts, facilitate power generation andinfrastructure support, ensure power supplysustainability to achieve a secure,reliable and quality electricity as well as support power infrastructure riskmitigation including partial riskguarantee

TOR Debt Recovery Levy-GH¢147m

Even though government is yet to declare how much has been collected ever since Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt recovery was instituted in 2004, the levy hasgenerated GH¢147million (GH¢147,671,837.84) in the six months periodto facilitate debt recovery of TOR.

Road Fund LevyGH¢714m

For the Road Fundwhich supports road maintenance, an amount of GH¢714million (GH¢714,771,583.20) has accrued within the period under consideration.

Energy Fund Levy- GH¢17m

The Energy Fund Levywhich supports Energy Commission’s activities accrued GH¢17million(GH¢17,869,289.58) for the first of 2016.