E-Levy not to affect payment of taxes, fees and charges on Ghana.gov platform
Payment of taxes, fees and charges on the Ghana.gov platform will not be affected by the electronic transaction levy (E-Levy).
This is per the information contained in the E-Levy Bill laid before Parliament by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Ghana.gov platform is the single online portal for the public to access and pay for all government services digitally – From Passport Office, Ghana Revenue Authority Ghana Immigration Service, Births and Deaths, the various MDAs and MMDAs as well the police, justice system, health and many more.
Also excluded from the 1.75% charge rate of the E-Levy is specified merchant payments and transfers between principal, agent and master-agent accounts.
As explained in the E-Levy Bill laid before Parliament, ‘agent’ means a person who provides agency services to customers on behalf of a principal, under an agency agreement.
Whereas, ‘master-agent’ refers to a legal person who has an agreement with a principal to contact and manage agents that provide banking and electronic money services or payment services to customers on behalf of the principal.
Principal, as defined by the Bill, refers to a bank or specialized deposit-taking institution, payment service provider, or electronic money issuer whose services are conducted through an agent.
As already stated by the Finance Minister, a cumulative transfer of GHS 100 a day made by the same person or individual as well as transfers between accounts owned by the same individual are exempt from the charge rate of the E-Levy.
The controversial E-Levy according to the Speaker of parliament when will be referred to the Finance Committee when it is laid to now debate and make the necessary amendments before it is brought before the full house by the Finance Committee Chairman for either voice vote or headcount.
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Consolidated Fund to be the recipient of GHS 6.9bn revenue mobilised from E-Levy
The Consolidated Fund will be the recipient of the over GHS 6.9bn mobilised in revenue from the electronic transaction levy.
The transfer of monies mobilised from the E-Levy into the Consolidated Fund is disclosed in the E-Levy Bill laid before Parliament by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The Minister in the Bill laid before Parliament, also affirmed the Ghana Revenue Authority’s role in collecting the E-Levy in accordance with the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915) contrary to assertions of the levy being collected by a private entity.
The Consolidated Fund is the Fund established by law and into which all revenues and receipts are paid.
It was established to serve as the central mechanism for the control of public finances and is mainly used to support the government’s budget.
Read the full content of Bill below:
E-Levy Bill Final 15-12-2021 by Fuaad Dodoo on Scribd
