E-Levy: Ghanaians will revert to old ways of sending money
The General Secretary for the Coalition of National Youths Organisers has slammed government over the introduction of Electronic Levy.
Osei Kofi Aquah, who doubles as the National Organiser for CPP reacting to the introduction of the E-Levy to the press on November 18,2021 after the Minister’s statement said, Ghanaians will be forced to revert to the old ways of sending money.
The government has put e-levy of 1.75% on mobile money and other electronic transactions.
This was stated by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta during the reading of the budget for 2022 in Parliament on November 17,2021-Wednesday.
According to Central Bank records, the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated digitalization and its use in Ghana, resulting in a more than 120% increase in the value of digital transactions in the country as of February 2021.
The Minister told Parliament that it is becoming clear that bringing transactions that are best described as informal economy transactions into the tax bracket has enormous potential to increase tax revenues.
He said “After considerable deliberations, 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”, Ken Ofori Atta said.
But according to the Coalition of National Youths Organisers Secretary, the move means the government is collapsing its own touted digital platform adding that it will also collapse online business which will increase unemployment growth in the country.
He admonished the government to tax the telcos from the money they are already deducting from senders.
“The citizens should not suffer for this because the telcos deduct senders an amount when ever they transact business with them. Why don’t you tax from the monies they are deducting from us”, Mr. Aquah stressed.
“Now if I want to send money to my mother, I will go the lorry station, look for a known person and deliver through him or her to my mother”, he said adding that instead the Government revivifying Ghanaians businesses, it is rather collapsing and discouraging youths who are into online business and are using the digital platform to make earns meet.
