A tax consultant, Abdallah Ali-Nakyea of Ali-Nakyea and Associates has described the mandatory yearly towing levy yet to be introduced by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) as improper, hence must be scrapped.
Mr. Ali-Nakyea maintained that the law was not properly thought through before it was passed.
Effective July 1, this year, vehicle owners and motorcyclists will be compelled to pay compulsory annual fees, tied to the acquisition of road worthy certificate, to cater for towing services.
But speaking to Citi Business News at the sidelines of a Public Lecture organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, Mr. Ali-Nakyea argued that the law must be revoked.
“I don’t think it is a fair kind of tax because the point is if your car breaks down you have to pay for it yourself for it to be towed. The kind of system they are bringing to me looks like insurance where we all contribute and those who have a breakdown will benefit,” he said.
“How can everybody be made to pay if you are going to renew your roadworthiness. So if you run the whole year and there is no breakdown and somebody has about five breakdowns, you are financing his breakdown. That will not be an efficient way of managing the system. The person who gets a breakdown must pay for the service to be rendered,” he argued.
He was of the view that the public uproar after the announcement of the levy shows that the law does not represent the interest of the Ghanaian public.
He pointed out for example that some MPs have also kicked against the fee, showing a general discontent for the law.
“If you listen to some of them, you can see that even some of them are now appreciating what they have passed. The law must be suspended,” he said.
He observed that it will be proper for the law to be suspended through parliament to take relook at it for the benefit of the people.
“I think it can be done. They are our representatives and they work for our interest. Laws have been revoked, suspended and reviewed. So why not this one,” he said.
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By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
