According to a recent Afrobarometer poll, most Ghanaians oppose the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy).
On May 1, 2022, the government implemented the e-levy in an effort to expand the tax base.
The vast majority of Ghanaians, however, believe it to be a poor concept that will increase taxation on the populace.
According to the study, a majority of people do not believe that the government will use the tax proceeds to pay for development programs, and opinions among the populace regarding whether they will continue to use electronic financial platforms are nearly evenly divided.
The study also indicates that a majority of Ghanaians believe there are several important goals that a tax revenue system must achieve, including ensuring that people understand the taxes they owe, reducing the tax burden, using tax revenues more effectively, and ensuring that citizens and businesses pay taxes.
Key findings
- Three-fourths of Ghanaians disapprove of the e-levy, including 67% who “strongly disapprove” of it (Figure 1). Only two in 10 (19%) endorse the new tax.
- A similar proportion (76%) think the e-levy is a bad idea because it will increase the tax burden on the poor and ordinary citizens (Figure 2). This includes 63% who “strongly agree” with this view.
- Three-quarters are also “not very confident” (24%) or “not at all confident” (51%) that the government will fulfil its pledge to use the revenues generated by the e-levy to fund development programmes.
- Faced with the e-levy, Ghanaians are about evenly split as to whether they will continue to use electronic financial transactions (47%) or avoid using them (49%)
- A majority of Ghanaians agree that there are several important goals that a tax revenue system must achieve, including ensuring that people understand the taxes they owe (82%), reducing the tax burden (81%), using tax revenues more effectively (83%), and ensuring that citizens and businesses pay taxes (79%).
