COMAC gives Finance Ministry 14-day ultimatum to suspend new fuel tax rule

The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) has given the Ministry of Finance 14 days to suspend the implementation of Section 136 of the Customs Act, 2026 (Act 1179), warning that the new tax collection arrangement could drive up costs and threaten fuel supply.

The Chamber says it has put its members on alert and will call an emergency general meeting if the Ministry does not announce a suspension within the deadline. That meeting, it says, will decide its next steps through legitimate administrative, regulatory and legal channels.

Section 136 moves responsibility for accounting for downstream petroleum taxes from Oil and LPG Marketing Companies (OMCs/LPGMCs) to Bulk Import, Distribution and Export Companies (BIDECs), with taxes to be accounted for at the point of sale. Under the provision, the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority may defer payment for up to 21 days against a bank guarantee.

COMAC, however, argues that the change does not fix the underlying problem.

"COMAC considers Section 136 to be a transfer of risk, not reform. The Chamber's position remains that existing controls should be enforced, with full transparency on overrides and exceptions and a complete accounting for products, before any replacement of the system is contemplated," it said.

The Chamber warns that placing the tax obligation at the bulk-supply level could create a single point of failure, since enforcement action against one BIDEC could affect several marketers and their retail outlets. It also points to what it sees as possible inconsistencies between Sections 126(6) and 136 on when tax obligations arise on petroleum consignments.

According to COMAC, the industry was not properly consulted before the provision was passed, and no impact assessment or evidence-based modelling has been published on how it would affect working capital, credit, supply security and pump prices.

The Chamber wants the current system maintained, with BIDECs continuing to pay import duties and port charges at importation, and OMCs and LPGMCs accounting for taxes and levies ex-pump.

It is also demanding transparency on the use of credit-limit overrides in the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) and an independent review of the non-bonded status granted to some operators.

In particular, COMAC is seeking a formal response to its analysis of industry data, which it says found an estimated 819.25 million litres of unaccounted-for petroleum products in 2025, with a revenue implication of about GH¢2.5 billion. It is also requesting information on ten diesel tankers it says were impounded in October 2025.

The Chamber maintains that the build-up of tax arrears is mainly an enforcement problem, and that shifting the point of collection will not address weaknesses in the existing system.

"COMAC has no interest in disruption, given the essential service its members provide to households and businesses. The industry, however, is unable to operate with confidence under a framework that has not been tested, explained, or justified, and which in its view shifts the risk of enforcement failures to operators and ultimately to the Ghanaian consumer," the statement said.