One the reasons why vehicles of the market are so expensive, is because government is charging the value added tax two times on each vehicle that comes into Ghana. According to the Korea Importers Association, they are forced to pay VAT two times on each vehicle, and both costs are eventually transferred to the final buyer of the vehicle.
The Korea Importers Association is a group whose members are into to the importation of used cars from Korea into Ghana for sale.
Speaking to some of the executives of the association such as Mr. Jones Bismack Oduro, the Secretary, Kwasi Poku Dua, Ernest Ofosu, Christian Boafo and others, they implored the public to stop blaming them for the rising cost of vehicles on the market.
“We want government, people and traders to know that these days the prices of goods are going up, but it is not we importers who keep on increasing prices. Prices are going up due to the effect of things happening at our ports,” they said.
They said that for instance, anytime the dollar goes up, the prices of their products has to go up.
“The government collects its duty in cedis, but actually the whole duty is calculated n dollars. So anytime the dollar goes up in value, the duty also goes up. So that thing going on at the port is the reason why our duty is also going up. And it is why prices are going up,” they said.
They further stated that they deal with home-used (second hand) goods.
“That is what we trade in. We used not have VAT calculated on the things we sell. Now they have forced to impose VAT on us. So now we pay VAT at the port, which raises the cost of the item we are selling. Secondly, we are again required to charge VAT on the items we sell. In effect, on each car, the VAT is charged twice to the final customer!” they explained in lamentation.
They said that sometimes when their goods and containers arrive at the port, they do not have enough funds to clear the goods from the ports.
“We are then forced to sell our cars at under-value to clear our goods. So, when you are selling the things under their value, how do you go ahead to charge VAT on them?” they questioned.
They stated that further, these are not items with a static price, on which one can charge VAT. “Sometimes we even incur losses from sales. So how do we charge VAT on such items? But they are insisting on this. We have met with GRA. They are not giving us any cogent explanation, so the government should ensure that something is done about this.
“They should stop forcing dealers in home-used cars to charge VAT!” they lamented.
