Rev Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah
THE GHANA Revenue Authority (GRA) has begun refunding wrongful deductions a few days into the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy also known as E-Levy.
Some members of the public complained what they described as excess charges after carrying out mobile money transactions below the GH¢100 threshold.
The first day of the E-Levy implementation was defined by technical snags including the deduction of the 1.5 per cent levy on transfers even below the stipulated baseline of GH¢100 while others were overcharged.
Many of the affected persons, from various mobile networks and banks, took to social media to complain and show screenshots and messages they had received with calls on the GRA to do the needful
Confirming the refund, Patrick Frimpong-Danso, Office of the Commissioner for the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) of the Ghana Revenue Authority, told Accra-based Peace FM that they have refunded the MoMo cash to over 120,000 people who were wrongfully deducted on the first day of implementation of the E-Levy.
“So far, we’ve made refund to over 120,000 people who were wrongfully deducted as in charging them for E-Levy although they have not cross the GH¢100 thresholds on the day of the E-Levy implementation,” he stated.
He said GRA has intensified education on the implementation of the E-Levy in churches and lorry parks, among other places.
Prior to the refund, the GRA gave assurance that all wrongful deductions made on electronic money transfers on the first day of the Electronic Transfer Levy implementation would be refunded.
According to the Head of Project Management Unit at the GRA, Isaac Kobina Amoako, the reimbursements would be done only after the claims have been investigated and ascertained.
According to Mr. Amoako, the authority had received the complaints from some charging entities including the banks and telecommunication companies, but a daily report would be generated on all transactions for redress.
“The feedback we got from one of the charging entities is that the configuration for off-net for less than GH¢100 and below is being charged which is in two folds.
“The first fold is that, GH¢100 and below whether on-net or off-net, does not attract E-Levy irrespective, but at the moment it’s a technical hitch. So it will be ratified automatically once the transaction is detected,” he said.
Mr. Amoako explained that the authority would run daily reports for all transactions below GH¢100 that were exempt from the levy and the charge would be reverted.
“The customers don’t need to do any intervention. If indeed the investigation shows that it was the first GH¢100 or below for the day, the amount will be refunded,” he said.
Mr. Amoako also explained that the challenge faced was as a result of the lack of a connected platform that would host the various charging entities as currently, the charging entities; Telcos, Banks, Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and specialised deposit-taking institutions; were charging from their individual systems.
Since Sunday, May 1, all electronic money transfers above GH¢100 have attracted a 1.5 per cent levy in line with the E-Levy law which is expected to raise GH¢4.5 billion annually to support development projects.
The E-Levy bill was passed on March 29, this year.
BY Vincent Kubi