Fifty-four Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) operating in Ghana owe the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) a staggering GH¢986,068,500.41 in unpaid taxes between 2018 and 2025, raising fresh concerns about revenue mobilisation and accountability in the petroleum downstream sector.
Documents covering the period made available to The Chronicle by Mr Joseph Bediako, the Convenor of the Movement for Truth and Accountability mentioned some of the defaulting companies as Gulf Energy Ghana Limited, which owes GH¢124,806,920.16; Zoe Petroleum, GH¢90,824,356.00; Sama Oil Company Limited, GH¢83,837,550.00 and Yass Petroleum Company Limited, GH¢58,075,960.00.
Others are Sephen Oil Company Limited, GH¢30,800,286.35; Humano Energy Limited, GH¢25,423,891.93; G&G Oil Company Limited, GH¢23,084,496.00; Capstone Oil Limited, GH¢19,873,584.00; Haviland Ghana Limited, GH¢15,496,408.80; Muna Energy Limited, GH¢17,710,760.00; Precious Energy Ghana Limited, GH¢11,335,392.00; and Nuru Oil Company Limited, GH¢8,280,760.44.
According to Mr Joseph Bediako, the situation raises fundamental questions about compliance in the petroleum sector, particularly when the lifting of petroleum products is largely conducted on a “cash-and-carry” basis.
“If lifting petroleum products are cash and carry, why are these OMCs owing the government such huge sums in tax revenues?” he queried.
He noted that although some companies, including Capstone Oil Limited, have reportedly been prosecuted, the overall recovery of the nearly GH¢1 billion debt appears minimal.
In his view, the unpaid taxes represent critical revenue that could have been channelled into developmental projects to address the country’s economic challenges.
He further questioned why OMCs with significantly larger tax liabilities have not been aggressively pursued through the courts to retrieve the outstanding amounts.
Mr Joseph Bediako warned that if the trend continues unchecked, key government flagship programmes such as the proposed 24-hour economy, the “Big Push” infrastructure agenda and agriculture industrialisation efforts risk becoming unattainable.
He maintained that given the high demand and profitability associated with petroleum products, there is little justification for OMCs to accumulate such substantial tax arrears.
As part of efforts to promote transparency and accountability, Mr Bediako disclosed that his organisation is considering legal action to compel stricter enforcement and ensure the state recovers the funds owed.
Meanwhile, a reliable source at the GRA has confirmed the report that the OMCs owe the Authority nearly one billion Ghana cedis in taxes.
The source hinted The Chronicle that the Authority had already started taking drastic measures to recover all the funds for the development of the country.
He added that since the revenues were collected on petroleum products, it is the duty of the OMCs to pay the money to the state.
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