GUTA Supports Plastic Manufacturers' Protest Against 5% Excise Tax: "It's Counterproductive"

• The Ghana Union of Traders Association has urged the government to heed the demands of plastic manufacturers and rescind the 5% excise tax
• GUTA argues that businesses in the country are already reeling under severe economic conditions; thus, more taxes would be burdensome
• It noted that the new tax handle is in sharp contrast to the government's agenda to promote industrialisation and import substitution

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has backed the agitating plastic manufacturers in their demand for the withdrawal of the 5% excise tax on plastic manufacturing companies.

The Union’s General Secretary, Alpha Shaban, in a press release dated Wednesday, July 3, 2024, stated that the imposition of the tax on plastic manufacturing companies could collapse the industry.

He noted that businesses in the country are currently grappling with a tough economic situation conditioned by the fast-depreciating cedi, ever-rising utility tariffs, and several other taxes that have burdened their operations.

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GUTA stressed that the passage of the 5% excise tax on the plastic manufacturing companies would significantly harm their operations and even burden the general public more that consume products from these companies.

It added that the tax handle was counterproductive to the government’s policy of promoting industrialisation and import substitution.

GUTA said the business community can no longer countenance the ever-increasing cost of doing business in the country.

It has urged the government to halt the implementation of the 5% excise tax to save businesses from collapsing.

GPMA urge threaten to shut down their companies if the tax is implemented

The Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association has given the government up to next week to suspend the new 5% tax on locally produced plastics.

In a statement signed by its president, Ebbo Botwe, the association expressed its disagreement with the tax and announced its intention to protest it.

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It also stated that the revenue from the said tax is not even being allocated toward plastic waste management.

At a press conference organised by the association, Ebbo Botwe urged the government to reopen stakeholder consultations on the tax and reconsider its position.

The group also urged Dr Bawumia, vice president and New Patriotic Party's flagbearer, to intervene and call the Ghana Revenue Authority officers to order. He alleged that the officers have been harassing its members at their workplaces.

Ebbo Botwe stated that if the government fails to heed their concerns, they will be forced to send 30,000 workers home for a week.

The Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association to hit the streets

YEN.com.gh reported that the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association is scheduled to stage a demonstration on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, to protest the imposition of a 5% excise tax on all locally produced plastic products.

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In a notice to the police, the group indicated that the protest would start from Obra Spot at Circle, through Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, the Accra Technical University road, and terminate at the finance ministry.

The protest march will begin at 9 am, and about 400 protesters are expected to attend.

Proofread by Berlinda Entsie, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh