E-Levy not a bad tax, Ghanaians don't want to pay taxes - Gabby
The failure of the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) to generate expected revenues does not mean it is a bad tax, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has said.
Mr Otchere-Darko said the development rather means that citizens do not want to pay taxes.
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If the e-levy is so far not bringing in the estimated revenues, it does not mean it is a bad tax. It means Ghanaians simply do not want to pay taxes. @@
— Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) June 27, 2022
He tweeted: "If the e-levy is so far not bringing in the estimated revenues, it does not mean it is a bad tax. It means Ghanaians simply do not want to pay taxes".
Expected revenues
In an earlier tweet, Mr Otchere-Darko disclosed that the E-Levy introduced by the government to generate additional cash was generating only 10% of estimated revenue.
He posted: “After 5 months of stalemate and bashing, the e-levy, after implementation, is delivering only 10% of estimated revenues; our revenues remain very low as compared to the rest of the world; debt levels dangerously high, cedi, like most currencies, struggling against the US dollar.”
On the current state of the economy, Mr Otchere-Darko explained that Ghana’s ability to service debts was decreasing, although the economy is growing faster than most countries around the world.
“Our economy is growing faster than most countries around the world. But, that alone can’t save us as confidence in our ability to service our debts is lowering. We can’t continue to use all the little revenues raised to pay our debts. Very soon we may have to borrow to pay wages.”
“What options are open to government? The question should rather be: what option, if adopted, will re-inject investor confidence in our economy? Even if we find the $3-5 billion required, will that help? E-levy which was to have given us some 600 million [cedis] by now has done less than 60 million [cedis],” he added.
About E-Levy
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) started collecting the E-Levy on May 1, 2022.
It was reduced from 1.75% to 1.5% following protests from various stakeholders.
See all the transactions that are affected by the E-Levy