E-Levy: You cannot be classified as poor if you earn above GH¢3,000 – Deputy finance minister

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A deputy finance minister, John Kumah, has suggested that persons earning above GH¢3,000 as salary in the country ‘cannot be classified as poor’.



Read full article/> According to him, all citizens in the country, whether poor or rich will through the introduction of the Electronic Transaction Levy, contribute their quota towards national development.

Speaking on the GTV’s Breakfast on Thursday, John Kumah called on citizens to take up the burden sharing in terms of taxes for national development.

“So, if you’re market women or trotro driver who uses Mobile Money to transact your business, for up to GH¢100 a day, this transaction (E-Levy) is not going to affect you and if you accumulate it in a month that will be GH¢3,000 and we know that in Ghana if you earn above GH¢3,000, you cannot be classified as poor,” John Kumah said this in a video sighted by GhanaWeb.

“…So, we should understand that whether you’re poor or rich, you still have responsibility or obligation as a citizen to still contribute your quota to the building of the country in terms of taxes but in this instance we’ve said that let’s protect the poor or the two sensitive groups to the MoMo,” he said on GTV Breakfast Show.

E-Levy: If you earn above ¢3,000, you cannot be classified as poor- John Kumah #GTVBreakfast pic.twitter.com/DMKUNMQjUX

— Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (@thegbcghana) January 27, 2022

Meanwhile, the Government of Ghana has reiterated the need for the introduction of the E-Levy on numerous occasions since its announcement in the 2022 budget statement.

Although, a decision to approve the E-Levy is yet to materialize in Parliament, the finance minister [Ken Ofori-Atta] has said revenue from the tax measure will go towards building more roads, creating jobs and opportunities for the youth and reduce the country’s dependence on debt assistance.

But the Minority in Parliament has vowed to kick against approving the E-Levy citing it will place more hardship on the ordinary citizen.

The E-levy is a new tax measure introduced by government in the 2022 Budget on basic transactions related to digital payments and electronic transactions aimed at widening the tax net and increasing revenue.

The measure, if approved would place a charge of 1.75% on all electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100.00 on a daily basis (24 hours).