President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appended his signature to the Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy) bill, sealing it into law
The Bill was passed by the Majority in Parliament on Tuesday March 29 after the minority staged a walkout.
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta gave indication on Wednesday March 30 that deductions will start in May this year.
He noted that the Controller and Accountant General (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), have given him the assurance to that effect.
“We had some meetings with Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and they have said right at the beginning of May they should be able to put their system together,” he told TV3’s Roland Walker in Parliament after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo delivered the State of the Nation Address.
During the debate on the policy in Parliament on Tuesday,
Meanwhile , the Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah speaking on the floor of parliament during discussion of the Bill had stated that the poor had been exempted from paying as a result of 100 cedis threshold.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah further debunked claims that that the E-levy will collapse the Mobile Money (MoMo) business . He pointed out that this same argument was made when the Communication Service Tax (CST) was introduced amid the believe that it was going to collapse the telecom industry.
The member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi noted contrary to the anxiety , the telecom industry has rather grown even with the tax.
He stressed “Mr Speaker, there is a claim that has been made that it will kill the MoMo industry so don’t tax MoMo.
“This same claim was made when the Communications Service Tax was being introduced, it has never killed the industry. In fact the industry has grown.
“Mr Speaker, finally, the poor have been taken out of it with the threshold implemented so that those who transfer less than 100 cedis a day will not pay this levy.”