Minority’s anti-E-Levy stance scaring away investors - Ofori-Atta

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said the Minority Caucus’ stance on the government’s proposed tax on Electronic Transactions (E-Levy) is warding off investors to the country.

The minister was speaking on Thursday, 24 March 2022 during the announcement of measures taken by the government to address the country’s current economic challenges.

According to the Finance Minister, the opposing stance taken against the E-levy by the Minority Caucus has affected the passage of the bill.

“Parliament will approve the 2022 budget, appropriation and its expenditure plans and turn to vote against one of the key revenue measures that were being introduced, E-levy. The stance of the Minority in Parliament against the E-levy would gravely affect investor confidence and our capacity to implement our programmes,” the Finance Minister stated.

The Finance Minister’s meeting with the Minority over the controversial e-levy ended inconclusively.

The Minority stood its ground and entrenched its position to kick against the passage of the e-levy.

The Finance Minister was hoping to convince the Minority to reach a consensus on the passage of the e-tax but was unsuccessful.

The Minority and a cross-section of the population have kicked against the e-levy and called on the government to drop it.

However, these calls to drop the proposed tax has fallen on deaf ears.

The government has explained that the upsurge in the use of e-payment platforms, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been an impetus for the introduction of the levy.

As a result, Ghana recorded a total of GHS500 billion from e-transactions in 2020 compared with GHS78 billion in 2016.

The government says the e-levy proceeds will be used to support entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, and digital and road infrastructure, among others.