Survey shows more than 80% of Ghanaians want E-Levy scrapped

• There is overwhelming public opposition to the controversial E-Levy, a new survey has revealed.
• The Centre for Economics and Finance Inequality Studies research has revealed that 81.6% of over 2,000 Ghanaians sampled are against the proposed tax.
• Only 13.5% of the total respondents backed the passage of the 1.5% tax regime to be charged on some mobile money and electronic transactions.

The findings of a new study show that 81.6% of Ghanaians sampled for research on the E-Levy are against the proposed tax regime.

The study by the Center for Economics Finance and Inequality Studies revealed that the over 80% of respondents against the tax want the Electronic Transaction Levy, which is currently before Parliament, totally canceled.

According to a report by Joy News, the study on the contentious E-Levy was carried out by Dr Benjamin Amoah of the University of Ghana Business School and Professor Anthony Amoah of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development.

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The researchers used Google Online Forms as a key instrument for data collection, allowing a respondent to answer only once.

Only 13.5% of the over 2,000 respondents backed the passage and implementation of the E-Levy.

Also, a small number of respondents (4.9%) suggested that the E-Levy to be based after 2022.

The report further revealed that 1,679 of the respondents, out of the 2,650 sampled, knew about the E-Levy.

The researchers explain this to mean that more public education is needed to increase public awareness about the proposed tax.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is leading the government’s effort to pass the 1.5% tax that he has said will provide an opportunity to generate more revenue to sustain its flagship programmes.

The tax regime, if passed, will affect some bank and mobile money transactions.

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The tax, which is estimated to generate close to GHS7 billion a year, is intended transform infrastructure across the country, including building roads, market amenities, health educational facilities, among others

Additionally, the E-Levy, according to the government, will help to deliver massive numbers of jobs through industrialisation and entrepreneurial programmes.

'I Charge GHc650 for 1 Haircut as a Barber' - Denmark-based Ghanaian Mom of 4 Reveals

Denmark-based Ghanaian entrepreneur, Georgina, quit her well-paying job as a dental hygienist to start her business and work as a hairstylist in Copenhagen.

At age nine, she immigrated to Denmark to live with her parents and has been in the Northern European country for 31 years.

In an interview with blogger Zionfelix, Georgina disclosed that her job as a dental hygienist was lucrative, but she wanted to venture into a new field.

Source: YEN.com.gh