The final cost of spectacles for end users in LMICs are estimated between 63 per cent to greater than 510 per cent of the ex-factory costs, depending on import tariffs, inventory and shipment costs, distributor and retailer margins and other associated costs. All these components significantly influence the final price to the consumer, with import duties and retailer margins contributing the most. Within this import taxes and duties significantly contribute to the higher costs and can contribute from 0-100 per cent of the increase in costs. Across the assistive products analysed, the cost mark-ups are the highest for spectacles, especially since they are often considered luxury goods and do not benefit from exemption of other assistive products.
66Table 12: Cost component for spectacles supply
| Cost Component | Lower estimate | Higher estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Total shipment cost | 23 per cent | 55 per cent |
| • Warehouse cost | 10 per cent | 25 per cent |
| • International shipping | 10 per cent | 15 per cent |
| • In-country shipment | 3 per cent | 15 per cent |
| Taxes and duties: import duty/custom tax/VAT | 0 per cent | >100 per cent |
| Other associated cost 24 | 25 per cent | 50 per cent |
| Distributor margin | 15 per cent | >95 per cent |
| Retailer margin | 0 per cent | >210 per cent |
| Additional cost | 63 per cent | >510 per cent |
24.Other Associated Costs include the rest associated costs on operations such as quality inspection costs, management costs, clearing + forwarding agent fees, among others. ↩︎
25.Note: Regarding import tax and duties, the cost incurred before in-country, such as freight cost, among others, are also taxable value in any calculation. ↩︎
Table 13: Key tax components for spectacles import in Ghana
| # | Tax item | Additional cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Import VAT | 17 per cent |
| 2 | Import Duty | 9 per cent |
| 3 | Import National Health Insurance Levy | 3 per cent |
| 4 | Ghana Education Trust (GET) Fund Import Levy | 3 per cent |
| 5 | Special Import Levy | 2 per cent |
| 6 | COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy | 1 per cent |
| 7 | Ghana Export-Import Bank Levy | 1 per cent |
| 8 | ECOWAS Levy | 1 per cent |
| 9 | Network Charge | 0.5 per cent |
| 10 | African Union Levy | 0.5 per cent |
| Total | 38 per cent |