E-Levy bill passed; GRA begins collection on April 1
Parliament has passed the controversial electronic bill (E-Levy).
The bill was passed on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
During its passage, the Minority Caucus was not in Parliament as the Minority bench had earlier staged a walkout.
The decision to pass the bill was reached after the Consideration Stage was completed by a Majority-sided House.
President Akufo-Addo is expected to assent to the bill for its implementation.
The E-Levy since its announcement by the Finance Minister on November 17, 2021 during his presentation of the 2022 Budget, has generated a lot of heated debate and controversy among the public.
Majority of Ghanaians along with the Minority Caucus in Parliament have mounted a spirited opposition against the passage of the E-Levy arguing that it is retrogressive and would adversely impact the government’s own financial inclusion agenda.
With its passage, the tax is expected to rake in a little over GHS 6bn this year.
Already, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced that it has implemented systems and is ready to mobilise the expected revenue from the E-Levy when passed.
Staring Friday, April 1, 2022, the following are the transactions to be affected by the E-Levy:
- Mobile money transfers between accounts on the same electronic money issuer (EMI)
- Mobile money transfers from an account on one EMI to a recipient on another EMI
- Transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts
- Transfer from mobile money accounts to bank accounts
- Bank transfers on a digital platform or application which originate from a bank account belonging to an individual to another individual
The following transactions will not be affected
- Cumulative transfers of GHC100 per day made by the same person
- Transfers between accounts owned by the same person
- Transfers for the payment of taxes, fees and charges on the Ghana.gov platform
- Electronic clearing of cheques
- Specified merchant payments (that is, payments to commercial establishments registered with the GRA for income tax and VAT purposes)
- Transfers between principal, master agent and agent’s accounts
