The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has encouraged Ghanaians to embrace the E-levy for development to thrive in the country.
He said the government is committed to making judicious use of the revenue that will be accrued from the E-levy.
He explained that the revenue will be used to embark on massive infrastructure development, deal with youth unemployment as well as create wealth that will make Ghana become prosperous.
“In the Western Region, for instance, we need to redevelop the Sekondi Market, the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital as well as construct more roads; and this will require revenue mobilisation,” he added.
Mr. Ofori-Atta was speaking at a town hall meeting on the E-levy at Sekondi in the Western Region.
The meeting, which was second in the series, was aimed at explaining the E-levy’s importance to the people as well as taking feedback and inputs from relevant stakeholders on the levy.
The E-levy is a new tax measure introduced by government in the 2022 Budget on basic transactions related to digital payment and electronic platform transactions.
The levy, which is yet to be presented in parliament for further discussions, has been reduced from 1.75 percent to 1.5 percent.
According to him, the E-levy is a form of sharing the tax burden to help reduce the country’s public debt, budget deficits among others.
He mentioned that the E-Levy covers mobile money transfers between accounts on the same electronic money issuer and transfers from mobile money accounts to bank accounts among others.
However, Mr. Ofori Atta said: “It does not cover electronic clearing of cheques, cumulative transfers of GH¢100 per day made by the same person and transfers between accounts owned by the same person”.
“We are all part of this burden-sharing to be able to raise the resources we need for development; so please, let us understand and accept the E-levy to help build a stronger nation, create more jobs and employ people,” he added.
He said the levy will make citizens responsible for protecting the public purse: “If you pay the tax, you will have the moral right to monitor what it is used for.
“The Ministry of Finance is looking for a quarterly report so that there will be transparency. This is a request, let us pay our taxes; we need to be self-disciplined and get understanding in all that we do,” he said.
He expressed hope that there will be a firmer understanding of the E-levy for socio-economic development.
