The Ride-Hailing Drivers In Ghana disagree with the new vehicle income tax the government is imposing on them.
The drivers are fighting against their income being cut short from what it is at present. The vehicle income tax is meant to take effect starting on the 1st of January, 2024.
The government rolled out a notice which part of it reads;
Any commercial vehicle owner that earns income from the operation of a commercial vehicle shall pay income tax on a quarterly basis.
Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)
To meet Ghana’s government requirements, Ride-Hailing companies in Ghana like Bolt, Yango and Uber have taken a step to ensure their drivers are verified vehicle income taxpayers before granting them access to operate.
How will the vehicle income tax be verified?
The ride-hailing companies operating in Ghana will require each driver to submit online the proof of tax payment. This proof is the vehicle income tax sticker which will be submitted online.
These companies would then validate the originality of the proof uploaded on their platform with the help of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). In addition, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) requires these ride-hailing firms to submit the list of all approved vehicles on their platforms quarterly.
According to a report on TechCabal, the drivers said they didn’t see the coming of GRA imposing aVIT on them. The drivers lament that they are already paying a high sum of commission to the ride-hailing companies and they feel it should be the responsibility of these firms to pay the new tax.
We know Uber and Bolt requires their driver to auto-remit 20% on every trip they make. For Yango, it is 18%. A driver identified as John said to Techcabal;
They are cheating us. I know many drivers sitting at home because they aren’t satisfied with the commission taken by the ride-hailing companies. So if Ghana Revenue Authority imposes a new tax on us, how will it affect the fares?
John
How much are driver’s meant to pay?
According to the information made availble to the public on Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) website, each ride-hailing driver of any firm operating in Ghana is to pay a sum of 12 Ghanian Cedi every 4 month (quarterly).
