In support, E-levy
The proposed E-levy has generated a lot of controversy in the nation.
Those opposing it have built their case mainly on the premise that it will impoverish the poor and worsen their plight. But the finance minister has argued that there were 15 million taxable Ghanaians who were not paying due taxes, with the levy going to rope all of them into the tax net.
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There are important benefits of the levy that needs emphasis:
Not impoverish poor
Even if all the GH¢6billion to be raised from the levy were to come solely from the 15 million “poor”, that would average a mere GH¢400 per poor person, per annum.
It is unclear how GH¢400 per annum can be the cause of the protests.
Additionally, there has to be GH¢343 billion worth of transactions, before the levy can generate GH¢6billion.
If the “poor” can generate GH¢343billion in electronic transfers alone, then collectively they constitute a significant economic force, which must contribute its share, to national development.
In subsequent years, even more than GH¢6billion a year would be realised and it would be irresponsible to overlook that.
Benefits outweigh cost
There are profound benefits to be gained from the levy. It costs GH¢1.5m to build one kilometre of asphalt road in Ghana.
Assuming that all the GH¢6bn to be raised, or at least the first GH¢6bn from the E-levy were to be spent solely on roads, it should be theoretically possible to construct 4,000km of asphalt roads annually, through the levy alone.
It is this visualisation, of Ghanaians crisscrossing the lengths and breadths of the country with thousands of kilometres of good roads each year without resorting to external loans, that has got me so enthused about the levy.
I doubt that any Ghanaian will be angry to pay GH¢400 a year, if he or she can be assured that in exchange, they will get 4,000km of asphalt road annually.
Parliament must unite and support the levy. And, if the 1.75 per cent rate is what is going to yield us the GH¢6bn (or $1bn) a year for roads, then let them not dilute it.
Fight
A fight against the levy may not be a fight for the poor, and also it could be a fight against the youth.
For good reasons, commercial banks don’t like financing start-up projects.
Yet, some of these start-ups grow to become big companies. So if a levy is being created to enable young people with dreams to get access to needed funds, and have a chance to set up their projects, should we be fighting against it?
A fight against the levy may end up being a fight against the young and their aspirations.
Conclusion
The levy may not be the solution to all our economic challenges, but I see roads, thousands of kilometres of them running throughout Ghana; highways and interchanges, feeder roads bringing in the harvests and roads foraging into the mining areas.
Roads built by our Ghanaian contractors, not by foreign ones, as the foreign loans often dictate.
I see technology transfer, possibly into modern railroads and stations, undergrounds and airports.
I also see education, health and other services reaching deeper into our hinterlands. I see our young entrepreneurs, now able to get funding for their projects, and creating employment in the nation, with some going on to become blue chips.
I hope that our Parliamentarians will also all catch up on the vision, and not only support it but watch dutifully over it.
The writer is Managing Director, Amponsah-Efah Pharmaceuticals Limited, Kumasi. E-mail: [email protected]