Dr. Frank Bannor, an Economist, has pleaded with the government to ensure transparency in the utilization of the electronic levy (e-levy).
Adding his opinion on the e-levy saga he said, “Covid-19 has created an external burden of 16.9 trillion dollars on global economy and developed countries such as America have presented a new budget to increase taxes of the people who take above 400,000 dollars annually, especially for high corporations. There has been an unconventional rate for generating funds all over the globe and Ghana is not an exception. The government devised internal means of generating funds to reduce the economic burden which includes the introduction of e-levy”.
“No one likes to pay tax and all over the world, people react to paying of taxes until they get used to it. For Ghanaians to gain trust in the levy, government must remain accountable to the people and ensure transparency in the use of the levy. There should quarterly engagement with citizens on what their monies are being used for”, he added.
He called on the media to create more awareness on the U-Start program, which is one of the initiatives the electronic levy will be used for.
E-Levy is a tax on all electronic transfers of money at a 1.5% rate. It was implemented on 1st May, 2022 against the demand from the opposing National Democratic Congress (NDC), for the court to put an injunction on the levy, however the court hearing on the repealing of the electronic levy is set for today, 4th May, 2022.