The Greater Accra Used Car Dealers Association, have expressed major concerns about the duty charges they pay to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) before clearing their goods.
According to the car dealers, it was most unfortunate that the duty charged for a single car has been increased by almost 20%.
The association raised these concerns in an exclusive interview with Today.
According to the association, the recent increase in duties and other charges is just unbearable is affecting them as they make meager profits and their goods are not being effectively patronized as people claim the cars are too expensive.
“My sister, these duties and handling charges are killing us and collapsing our cherished business. They make the cars so expensive for the ordinary man to afford.
… The cars are not being bought as compared to some time ago. Formerly we used to sell 7-9 cars in a month but now, the maximum sales we make in a month is 2-4 cars and as result are not making the profits required,”. A member of the association lamented.
The association claimed further that when the imported cars are shipped to into the harbor, the authorities do not handle the goods with proper maintenance and thus, getting most of them damaged before reaching the owners.
According to a member of the association, there was an instance when he caught one of the people in charge of offloading the goods seriously dragging the imported cars from the shores of the harbor,
“I caught him red handed dragging my imported cars from the harbor meanwhile he didn’t know I would suddenly appear and see him doing that, he damaged the cars and this brought a whole lots of issues concerning the payment of the goods,” she lamented.
Stating the figures in the payment of the duties, the association raised that during the administration of the immediate past government the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the handling charges which is the amount paid for every step taken before the goods are cleared from the harbor was GH C23 million
“When the NPP government was in power, we paid GHC 23 million for the handling charges but when he had this new government NDC, the handling charges have been increased to GH¢32 million. Every car price since then has been increased by 20%, it was formerly between GH¢38-40 million but now it is GH¢60 m,” a member of the association complained. He gave the figures as follows:
Taxes include for a single car
5% import duty -4,622,349 Processing Fee – 0
VAT -12,133,666 Inspection Fee – 0
NHIL -2,426,734 Interest charge -0
ECOWAS - 402,235 Network charge -8,245
EDIF - 462,235 Net charges VAT – 331,400
EXAMS FEE - 924,470 Net charges NHIL- 41,425
Certification - 20,000 Shippers – 0
50% over Age Penalty – 4,622,349.
According to the association, Ghana is the only place in the world that its harbours charge very expensive duty charges and this has compelled most car importers to have their goods shipped through Togo.
“Because we pay so much money, many car dealers as a result have their imported goods being shipped through Togo because they do not really pay duties as compared to that they pay here in and this they said is affecting the market especially the commercial vehicles,” a member said.
The association further complained that many people can no longer afford to purchase bigger due to the prices, he said a petition letter was sent to GPHA for negotiation of the charges but their petitions were not heeded by the GPHA.
The association cautioned that if the government sit back and watch this practice to continue, no revenue will be acquired from that sector because government generates 60% of its revenue from that sector, and therefore pleaded for duty charges reduction.
STORY: EMELIA N. A. ARYEE
