E-Levy: Akufo-Addo Quickly Signs Controversial Tax Bill Into Law

• President Nana Akufo-Addo has signed the controversial E-Levy bill into law in record time
• The bill was passed on Tuesday, but reports from the Jubilee House say the president has already signed it into law
• Minority MPs were seeking to block the presidential assent with a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the passage of the bill into law

President Nana Akufo-Addo has signed the controversial E-Levy bill into law just two days after a one-sided Parliament of Majority MPs passed it.

With the bill now a law, the Finance Ministry and the Ghana Revenue Authority can begin implementing the collection of the 1.5% tax to be charged in some mobile money and electronic transactions.

Meanwhile, Minority MPs, who walked out of the chamber shortly before the bill was passed, have filed a suit at the Supreme Court to challenge the passage of the tax.

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They insist that Parliament did not have the quorum to pass the tax policy.

Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu; North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa; and Bawku MP, Mahama Ayariga, have dragged the Attorney General to the apex court, citing breaches in the passage of the bill.

The three MPs represent all 137 opposition MPs at the apex court to argue that the constitutionally mandated number of MPs did not pass the controversial bill.

Minister of Finance, has hinted that the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy will start at the beginning of May this year.

According to reports, the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Controller and Accountant General Department will be the revenue collectors of this levy.

“We had some meetings with Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD) and the (GRA) and they have said right at the beginning of May [2022] they should be able to put their system together,” Ken Ofori-Atta is quoted to have said after the president delivered his State of the Nation Address.

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E-Levy: Analyst Predicts An Increase In Cheque Transactions By ‘Tax Sensitive’ Ghanaians

A financial analyst has predicted an increase in cheque transactions among Ghanaians and businesses and a dip in mobile money transactions in response to the E-Levy passage.

Executive Director, Center for Economics, Finance and Inequality Studies (CEFIS), Dr. Benjamin Amoah, has said that because cheque transactions attract no taxes, “tax-sensitive” Ghanaians will move away from mobile transactions that attract a 1.5% levy.

He also said a major deficit will hit the government’s projected GHS6.9 billion annual revenue.

He explained that research conducted by CEFIS before the E-Levy was passed shows that as many as 46% of Ghanaians have said they will stop mobile money transactions if the tax is implemented.

Source: YEN.com.gh