Ken Ofori-Atta is Minister of Finance
The Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu has emphatically stated that the caucus still stands opposed to the imposition of E-LEVY.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament today, Tuesday, December 7, 2021, he said the position on the matter has not changed and will not change.
“We on this side of the house are unable to support the government in his request to impose an E-Levy- on MoMo and Banks transactions. Therefore the minority stand opposed at any time e- levy is introduced because it will bring hardship on the Ghanaian people”.
The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, had stated that the government will continue engagements with the minority in parliament and other stakeholders including mobile network operators in getting the proposed e-levy approved.
Addressing the media a press conference on Monday, he said “having regard to its serious fiscal implications, we will continue our consultation with the minority caucus in parliament and other relevant stakeholders with the view to achieving consensus and reverting to the house in the shortest possible time.”
He said: “E-levy represents our greatest opportunity to in the medium term broaden the tax base and meet the tax to GDP ratio of 20% as pertains to our peers.”
“We shall also ensure that measures will be taken to avoid attempts at evading the e-levy taxes. The proposed e-levy tax is largely progressive, and we have intentionally set the GHS 100 threshold covering about 40% of MoMo users, mindful of the need to exempt vulnerable groups while continuing to encourage the development of our nascent digital economy,” Ken Ofori-Atta said.
But Haruna Idfdrisu said although they have engaged the government on issues surrounding the budget, they were still opposed to the E-Levy.
The E-Levy he asserted will undermine our quest to grow and digitize the economy.
He said the Minority is guided by the position and concerns of Ghanaians on the matter, and the Minority will support them on the matter.
He revealed at any point the levy is introduced, the Minority will stand united and oppose it.
The new E-levy will be a 1.75 per cent charge on all electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances to be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.
This will, however, not affect transactions that add up to GH¢100 pr less per day.
A portion of the proceeds from the E-Levy the government says will be used to support entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, digital and road infrastructure among others.