A Deputy Finance Minister, Abena Osei Asare, is rallying Ghanaians to support the e-levy as a homegrown solution to the country’s revenue problems.
Speaking on Eyewitness News in response to calls for Ghana to head to the IMF and abandon the e-levy, she said it would expand Ghana’ tax net significantly.
“This I believe is a homegrown solution that will best serve our interest, that will rope in more people into the tax net, and we believe that with this e-levy alone, we will get up to about 85 percent of the informal sector getting the opportunity to pay taxes.”
She also said the e-levy was a better alternative to a potential return to the International Monetary Fund.
“Globally, there are issues everywhere and all countries are trying very hard to find space within themselves to develop and then you have [a method you can use] to raise more revenue, and you say you are shelving that and running to IMF?”.
“What happened to homegrown solutions? What happened to the spirit of yes, we can do it ourselves… Let us come together, support this government to push this e-levy, and we will see the results of the E-Levy,” Mrs Asare said.
The Deputy Minister was speaking after a former Chair of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah, urged the government to reconsider its decision not to go back to the International Monetary Fund in the face of the country’s dwindling revenues.
The e-levy was introduced by the government in the 2022 Budget on basic transactions related to digital payments and electronic platform transactions.
The rate in the budget was 1.75 percent, but it is expected to be reduced to 1.5 percent.
This levy will apply to electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100 on a daily basis.
