Some luxury car owners and dealers have threatened they will hand over their vehicles to the government in protest of the luxury vehicle tax if their demonstrations do not yield the desired results.
They say, the introduction of the luxury vehicle tax by the government is having a toll on their businesses as well as their daily lives.
Read:Luxury vehicles slapped with levy beginning August 1
The group has at least staged one demonstration to put pressure on the government to scrap the tax and has scheduled another in the coming days.
Read:Coalition stages demo against Luxury Vehicle Tax
They have however added that if the scheduled demonstration fails to get them results, they will be left with no option than to give their cars to the government and give up their businesses.
“They are collapsing our businesses with the implementation of the tax, and all attempts to table our concerns to government for redress have failed. So, this time if government did not address our concerns, we shall not only protest, but we shall also send all our luxury vehicles to them, then we know they have finished us”, 2016 independent presidential candidate and consultant for the group, Jacob Osei Yeboah said on Onua FM’s Yen Sempa.
Mr. Yeboah said there are several agitations from members and the general public for leadership to rescue them from what he described as an “unbearable situation”.
He explained that the group has made attempts to engage with stakeholders on the way forward but that he said they were unsuccessful.
“Most people are not happy about the luxury tax. After our first demonstration, we had had meetings with the deputy minister of finance, DVLA, and other stakeholders. We were hopping government will give us a listening ear with all the suggestions and genuine concerns we submitted but, government blatantly ignore our concerns”, he said in Akan.
He added that most businesses go for bank loans to import the vehicles to sell but noted the introduction of the tax is causing them to lose huge sums of money as a result of reduced sale which he said is caused by the tax.
According to him, when people come to the garages to buy vehicles and they realize the engine capacity is 3.0 and above, they say “this one is for Mr. Ofori Atta and his people” and walk away.
“Someone who drives toilet vehicle and goes on road for once or twice in a month and you expect him/her to pay over GHȻ2,000, are you not virtually closing his business?”, he quizzed.
By Marshall Bobobee |3news.com|Ghana