Haruna Iddrisu
The approval of the Electronic Transaction Levy popularly known as e-levy in the 2022 budget is unlikely to be a smooth affair, with the Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) serving notice that they will not support it.
The government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions (1.75%) to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who announced the levy in Parliament on Wednesday, said the e-levy would cover mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances, and will be charged at an applicable rate of 1.75%, which shall be borne by the sender, except inward remittances which will be borne by the recipient.
But an all-MPs (both Majority and Minority) workshop convened by the government on Saturday in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, to elucidate and discuss the implementation of the levy and other matters in the budget failed to evolve a consensus.
The opposition MPs led by Haruna Iddrisu, who is the NDC MP for Tamale South, said their side would oppose the new tax (1.75%) that seeks to increase revenue by bringing into the tax bracket, transactions that could be best defined as being undertaken in the “shadow economy”.
“Our concern is whether the e-levy itself is not and will not be a disincentive to the growth of the digital economy in our country. We are convinced that the e-levy may as well even be a disincentive to investment and a disincentive to private sector development in our country,” Mr. Iddrisu explained at the post-budget workshop.
He continued, “We in the minority may not and will not support the government with the introduction of that particular e-levy. We are unable to build national consensus on that particular matter.”
Some opposition lawmakers were even heard warning the government that any hasty decision on the issue may lead to an agitation.
Post-Budget Meeting
Already the Speaker of Parliament and its members have gathered in Ho in the Volta Region to hold dialogue on the budget as presented by the minister.
The high-level meeting was attended by the Speaker Alban Bagbin, almost all MPs as well as representatives of the Ministry of Finance led by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
The two-day workshop “brought together, experts in various fields to tease out pertinent issues relating to the budget to equip Members of Parliament with more information to enable them to scrutinise the budget in minute detail during the debates on 2022 budget which are expected to start in the House soon,” the Public Affairs Unit of Parliament posted on Facebook.
Call for Support
Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman hopeful, Stephen Ayesu Ntim has urged Ghanaians to support the 2022 budget since it is in their interest and well-being, asserting the NPP government will continuously put in place practical measures that will bring about the needed development.
“I see this ‘Agyenkwa’ budget as transformational and timely as it answers the current pressing issues like revenue mobilisation, entrepreneurship, health, youth employment, cyber security, digital and infrastructure, among others,” he stated.
He commended the government for removing the road toll, noting that the move would address congestions on the country’s roads in part, especially those related to tollbooths.
“So Ghanaians should support this budget to ensure its full implementation,” Mr. Ntim stressed during an interaction with the media.
By Ernest Kofi Adu