Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central and Vice Chairman for Finance Committee in Parliament, Patrick Yaw Boamah, says the Electronic Levy introduced by government is a more sustainable way to fix the country.
Government has introduced E-levy to undertake developmental projects.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday 17th November 2021, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Attah stated the tax will widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector.
He added that Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.
According to Ofori Atta, the total value of transactions for 2020 was estimated to be over GHS 500 billion as compared to GH¢78 billion in 2016 while total mobile money subscribers and active mobile money users have grown by an average rate of 18% and 16% respectively between 2016 and 2019.
“After considerable deliberations, Government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector. This shall be known as the “Electronic Levy or E-Levy. Electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient,” Ken Ofori Atta told Parliament.
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In an interview with sit-in-host Nana Owoahene Acheampong on Atinka FM’s AM Drive, Patrick Yaw Boamah stated that the funds generated by the collection of road tolls was insufficient and could not fix the road and to a large extent the economy.
According to Patrick Yaw Boamah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is not noted for introducing new taxes citing the cessation of 17 nuisance taxes by the NPP government.
“ When we came to power, the Vice President through the economic management team scrapped over 17 nuisance taxes because we felt we had to ease the burden of Ghanaians. The Kayaye tax, tax on air tickets among others were scrapped. The NPP government has Ghanaians at heart and we want to make the country a better place for all of us”, Patrick Yaw Boamah told Nana Owoahene Acheampong.
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