Full list of affected transactions & the exempted
Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, says he’s working out the details of resubmitting the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) to Parliament for approval.
Since the government submitted its 2022 Budget statement to the House last year, the tax, sometimes known as E-Levy, has been a source of debate.
According to him, the action will raise the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio from 13% to a target of 16% or higher.
Minority claims that the 1.75 percent tax is a weapon to intensify the hardship of ordinary Ghanaians, who have already been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
The yet-to-be-approved levy has also been met with dissatisfaction by a segment of the population and experts.
The budget’s other components have been accepted, with the exception of the E-Levy, which the Minority has promised to oppose tooth and nail.
The Finance Minister has been explaining several problems relating to the E-levy as Parliament prepares to return on January 25, with the goal of clearing the air ahead of the bill’s resubmission.
The Minister cited a slew of transactions that will be impacted by the charge to hammer home his points.
Full list of affected transactions
Mr. Ofori-Atta, speaking to the media during the Ministry’s press conference on Wednesday, stated that it will include the following:
- 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
Full list of unaffected transactions
Following that, the Minister highlighted some scenarios in which the E-Levy will not apply. They’re there;
- 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
He stated that approving the e-levy will assist address the issue of Ghana’s credit rating being downgraded from B to B-, citing a Bloomberg report on the country’s economy.
Mr. Ofori-Atta also stated that the charge would be the catalyst for the country’s debt to be reduced to a more manageable level.
The interaction is part of a public awareness effort aimed at getting people on board with the levy’s implementation.
“Colleague ministers and other key members of government will embark on a public engagement and sensitization campaign across the country,” the Minister said, beginning January 20, 2022.
