Finance Committee Suspends Consideration Of E-Levy

The Electronic Transactions Levy Bill, 2021 has been put on hold by Parliament’s Finance Committee.

If the House rises later today, it is unlikely that the bill will be passed or rejected.

The minority has vowed to overturn the 1.75 percent E-Levy, which will effect mobile money transactions among other things, claiming it is regressive.

If the committee fails to table the bill in the plenary, the government will have to reintroduce it after the Christmas break.

The planned levy is a 1.75 percent charge on the value of electronic transactions, and it is set to take effect on February 1, 2022. It includes payments made with mobile money, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances.

Except for inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient, the charge will be borne by the transaction’s originator. For transactions up to GH100 ($16) every day, there is an exception.

According to the finance minister, total digital transactions are expected to exceed GH500 billion ($81 billion) in 2020, up from GH78 billion ($12.5 billion) in 2016. In just five years, the company has grown tremendously.