Following the 2021 budget, the government plans to impose a new tax on petroleum products.
The Sanitation and Pollution Levy is a new tax that will be used to finance improvements in sanitation and pollution.
The Energy Sector Levies Act imposes a levy of 10 pesewas on the price of a litre of gasoline or diesel (ESLA).
If the plan is approved, Ghanaians should expect higher fuel prices at the pump.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the caretaker Finance Minister, outlined “critical investments that must be made for the benefit and integrity of all Ghanaians” in the 2021 budget.
The government plans to promote fumigation of public spaces, schools, health centers, and markets, as well as revamp or rebuild poorly operated landfill facilities and build more solid and liquid waste treatment plants in strategic locations across the country.
The caretaker Minister of Finance said, “These will ensure sustainable sanitation management, improve the quality of life, and reduce the number of deaths and diseases caused by poor sanitation.”
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The government wants to use the funds from the levy to:
1.Improve urban air quality and combat air pollution;
2. Support the re-engineering of landfill sites at Kpone and Oti;
3. Support fumigation of public spaces, schools, health centres and markets; iv. Revamp/reconstruct poorly managed landfill facilities;
4. Construct more sustainable state-of-the-art waste treatment plants both solid and liquid in selected locations across the country;
5. Construct waste recycling and compost plants across the country;
6. Construct more sanitation facilities to accelerate the elimination of open defecation.
7. Construct final treatment and disposal sites for solid and liquid waste;
8. Provide dedicated support for the annual maintenance and management of major landfill sites and other waste treatment plants and facilities across the country; and
9. Construct medical waste treatment facilities to prevent generation of infectious diseases especially under the Coronavirus Treatment Programme.
The COVID-19 Health Levy of 1% on the VAT Flat Rate Scheme and 1% on the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) is another proposed tax in the budget as part of revenue steps to help the economy recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
SOURCE: ATLFMNEWSONLINE
