Government ‘ignores’ calls for revision of E-Levy; maintains charge rate at 1.75%
Government has turned a deaf ear to calls by economic analysts, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), think tanks and the general public for a downward review of the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy).
According to Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, there will be no revision of the 1.75 percent charge rate of the E-levy because of the serious fiscal implications that will present to the economy.
“We will continue our consultations with the Minority Caucus in Parliament and other relevant stakeholders with a view to achieving consensus and reverting to the House in the shortest possible time,” he said at the Meet the Press Series organized by the Ministry of Information on Monday.
He said putting a levy on electronic transfers was a reflection of the new reality and an innovative way of raising revenue for the government to provide the needed infrastructure.
He said the approach capitalized on the new digital age and the advent of e-money and the proliferation of online transactions.
“Most of us today are just as comfortable ordering food online or clothes from a virtual shop as we are walking into a shop or a restaurant. We need to review our approach to tax collection to reflect this new reality,” he said.
He, however, called on Ghanaians to bear with the government as the implementation stage of the new cutting-edge initiative would come with some challenges.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the government had taken note of the concerns of Ghanaians to be efficient with the public expenditure.
He said, in the 2022 budget, the government, was committed to consolidating its efforts through the use of the Ghana Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) in initiating and processing all requests.
“Additionally, GIFMIS will be retooled to allow potential contractors and suppliers to verify and confirm availability of funding for Awards of Contract,” he added.
He also mentioned that the 2022 budget would set the country on a path of irreversible transformation from dependence on the State to individual enterprise and a generation of job seekers to a generation of job creators and from a place of inertia and uncertainty to enterprise, innovation and progress for all.
He said the National Budget remained the single most effective tool to address the greatest challenges of the nation.
“As a country, we cannot allow such a strategic national tool to be held hostage by partisan interests, especially when the consideration stage offers every opportunity for such redress,” Mr Ofori-Atta added.
Read This: Finance Minister submits reviewed 2022 budget to Parliament
The Institute of Economic Affairs Ghana [IEA], a public policy think-tank, had proposed a 0.5 percent charge rate for the E-levy.
The IEA said this would bring the total levy to 1.5 per cent in addition to the 1 per cent levied by the Telcos to ease the burden on customers and avoid negative reactions.
The Institute said even though the E-levy was an innovative idea to bring the informal sector into the tax bracket, some of the transactions such as bank transfers and inward remittances were already being deducted in the formal sector.
Dr John K.Kwakye, the Director of Research, IEA Ghana, during a press briefing on the proposed 1.75 per cent E-levy in Accra, noted that a lot of persons and businesses who were called upon to pay the E-levy were already in the formal sector, and were within the tax net and already paying personal income tax, corporate income tax or consumption tax.
“To ask them to pay the E-levy on mobile money transactions on top of what they pay to the Telcos to us seems to amount to subjecting them to “triple taxation.” he said.
Dr Kwakye said the E-levy which was projected to contribute as much as GHS 7.0 billion of the total revenue of GHS 80.2 billion projected for 2022, was huge because “it is like putting all your eggs in one basket”.
Adding that if for some reason, the projected tax intake failed to materialise, it would have a material effect on the budget.
The E-levy, he stated, had the potential to undermine the considerable effort put in place by the government to digitize and formalize the economy and as well promote a cashless economy.
Dr Kwakye urged the government to tap into the revenue potential of the country’s natural resources for sustainable national development.
“We can only unleash the revenue potential from our natural resources for our development if we ensure that fiscal regimes for their exploitation provide maximum benefits to the country,” he said.
