The Minority in Parliament has labelled the GH¢1 levy on petroleum products as a midnight robbery.
According to the minority, the dumsor Levy has an effective effect of 8% per transaction which is more than the 1% per transaction E-Levy.
Speaking to the media, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah the member of parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi stated, “The E-Levy was advertised in the budget and followed up with town hall. It was neither advertised in the budget nor on the main order paper for the day. That is why we say that this amounts to midnight robbery.
The E-Levy had an effective rate of 1% per transaction, yet it was described as pickpocketing. This Dumsor Levy has the effective effect of 8% per transaction, which is why we say that it is midnight robbery”.
He added, “The E-Levy was designed to yield approximately GH¢2 billion from persons who elected to do transfers or transactions. This government is taking GH¢5.6 billion from the pockets of Ghanaians, and we think it is very dishonest”.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has postponed the rollout of the Energy Sector Shortfall and Debt Repayment Levy from today June 9 to June 16, 2025.
The GRA move comes after they faced intense resistance from oil marketing companies.
The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) raised concerns over the timing and potential impact on fuel prices and consumer burden.
COMAC in a letter signed condemned the timing and mode of communication, which it received at 8:00 am on Sunday, June 8.
“This approach is neither lawful nor operationally feasible… Issuing a backdated directive on a holiday and serving it on a weekend for next-day compliance borders on institutional ambush,” the statement read.
“We therefore wish to state unequivocally: COMAC and its members cannot and will not begin implementation of this levy from Monday, 9th June,” the letter emphasised.
“We are industry stakeholders, not bystanders, and we deserve better than Rambo-style directives in the middle of a weekend,” the statement concluded.
The GRA speaking on CITI News revealed, “In the spirit of cordiality and partnership. The Association has concerns with the 9 June implementation date. We have discussed with their leadership in the spirit of cordiality and partnership and have agreed a new start date of 16 June,” the GRA stated.
Watch the video below:
“The day the E-levy was repealed, majority leader, Mahama Ayariga was on his feet on the floor of parliament shouting that the Government has put 2million cedis back into the pocket of Ghanians, now this Dumsor levy is taking from Ghanaians over 5.7billion cedis for this fiscal… pic.twitter.com/d23uKXo8sS
— Gen. Buhari (@Gen_Buhari_) June 9, 2025