5% Excise Tax on Plastics: Government Faces Calls for Suspension

The National President of the Association of Sachet and Packaged water producers (NASPAWAP), Magnus Nunoo has disclosed that, government is planning to suspend the newly imposed 5% tax on finished plastics.

This come after the association joined calls by plastic manufacturers for the government to indefinitely suspend the newly imposed 5% excise tax on finished plastics.

This call, according to a statement by the association, has been necessitated by the hardship the 5% tax would bring to consumers.

The association highlighted the significant price hikes in bottled and sachet water since January 2024, attributing them to the cedi’s depreciation against the US dollar.

“We believe the motive for the 5% extra excise tax would be to raking in funds to tackle the menace plastics is posing to the environment. There is an existing 10% environmental excise tax on selected plastic at the ports of entry. We were part of the decision to tax plastic granules at the entry ports. This method broadens the tax base since all plastic
granules are imported. However at the implementation stage only a selected few were captured,” part of the statement read.

The association proposed an alternative approach: reducing the environmental excise tax rate to 1% at entry points, applicable to all imported plastic granules, and imposing a 10% tax on the CIF value of semi-finished plastics imported into the country.

Magnus Nunoo speaking to the media said he is hopeful that the government will abide by his promised and suspend the tax.