The Akufo-Addo led administration has asked Ghanaians to bear with them on the increase in E-levy since the nation can only have meaningful developments through the collection of taxes.
Addressing the media at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Headquarters in Accra, the Deputy Minister for Finance, John Kumah explained that the new charges on MoMo would not affect receivers but only senders.
“So the government is pleading with the entire citizenry in the country that we acknowledge the hardship that we are in. We are pleading that Ghanaians would accept the tax which is the E-levy.
“It is only when you send GHC200 you are charged Ghc1.75 even your first Ghc100 would not be charged, the MoMo levy would apply on your second Ghc100. Secondly, all money from your MoMo account to your bank account would not attract any charges, likewise, when you transfer money from your bank account to your MoMo account you don’t pay any charges,” he explained.
The Deputy Minister also disclosed that other developed nations like the USA and UK would have to take some measures with respect to taxation in order to keep them going.
“Now, I beg to say that it is not with joy that the government imposes tax but the truth of the matter is that there is no nation that can be built without taxes. We need as a citizen and as a nation help to raise resources so that we can spend on the things that we expect the government to do. In building us roads, hospitals, infrastructure and providing jobs for the young people,” he explained.
The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta in presenting the 2022 Budget to Parliament announced the scrapping of road tolls and the introduction of E-levy to cover Mobile money transactions, remittances and other electronic transactions.
Additionally, fees and charges of government services have also been increased by 15%.
“Total value of transactions for 2020 was estimated to be over GHS 500 billion Cedis compared to GH¢78 billion Cedis in 2016 just 5 years ago, 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. Mr. Speaker, it is becoming clear there exists an enormous potential to increase tax revenues by bringing into the tax bracket, transactions that could be best defined as being undertaken in the “shadow economy”.
“After considerable deliberations, the 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 Transaction Levy or E-Levy,” he told Parliament.