Tax GH¢10 for use of airport trolleys - Ato Gaisie

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) was on Monday advised to tax passengers GH¢10 each for the use of luggage trolleys at the airport to generate revenue for national development.

Mr Sam Ato Gaisie, President of the Entrepreneur Foundation of Ghana (EFG), gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

He cited the United States of America (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) as examples of countries that charged travelers for using the trolleys to move their luggage around the airport, stressing that the taxation could be employed in Ghana.

Mr Gaisie said passengers are made to pay five dollars each in the US whilst in the UK a passenger pays two pounds.

His suggestion adds to recent comments made to request Government to widen the tax net.

Mr Gaisie underscored the socio-economic importance of generating revenue through innovative tax systems, adding that, it created jobs particularly for the youth.

Speaking on innovative means to generate enough revenue for developmental projects during annual festivities, he suggested that road tolls could be doubled only for the number of days that the particular metropolitan or municipal area would play host to the festival.

“Half of the revenue collected would be used to fund specific needs of the area whilst the rest goes to Government,” he added.

Mr Gaisie threw the challenge to Government to roll out attractive packages to drive investors to rural communities.

He expressed the view that the move would help solve the rural-urban migration challenge.

On electricity, Mr Gaisie proposed the establishment of a National Electricity Fund, to particularly support the energy needs of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

He suggested that the revenue could be sourced from a GH¢2 monthly contributions of civil and public servants.

Mr Gaisie said: “the monies could be deducted from their salaries at source.”

The EFG, organisers of the Ghana Entrepreneurs Award, is a non-profit and private sector-led organization that aims at harnessing the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow the Ghanaian economy and improve living standards.

The Foundation was formed as a result of the growing need for Ghanaian entrepreneurs to network, create business environment, and to take sustainable actions to propel Ghanaian businesses to greater heights.