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NPP Flagbearer Hopeful Fumes At E-levy Bill; Cites Double Taxation
A flagbearer hopeful of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Poku, has registered his opposition to the introduction of the controversial e-levy, adding that it is another form of confiscation of savings.
“I’m strongly opposed to the situation where people will be made to do double taxation as purported in the e-levy,” he said.
“As a country, we need to raise revenue, whether you call it e-levy, e-levy, e-levy, or whichever name you call it but the situation where people’s savings will be confiscated is wrong,” he added.
He was of the view that the e-levy, at its current stage, must be stopped, as it will amount to a situation of double taxation.
The NPP presidential hopeful, who is also an energy expert, registered his displeasure with the introduction of the controversial e-levy on the Dwabre Mu morning show hosted by Nana Otu Darko on Accra-based CTV on Monday, 28 March 2022.
He suggested that instead of the e-levy, the government can introduce an Artificial Intelligence platform to fully monitor the use of the e-payment platforms.
He said in India, a monitoring platform called Universal Payment Interface (UPI) was introduced by which merchants were separated from people who were using the e-payment platforms to pay for goods and services among others.
“The government needs to invest in Information Communications Technology (ICT) to make the platform innovative in the revenue drive,” he stated.
He noted that the e-levy, if not properly thought through, will lead to thievery of people’s savings.
He cited a situation where the government will tax a Pay as You Go (PAYE) taxpayer who puts his money on a MoMo account.
This, he said, amounts to double taxation.
He called for the policy at its current stage to be reversed, adding: “You just can’t come and make a sweeping statement that everybody should pay 1.5% e-levy tax on MoMo…”
