Townhall meetings on e-levy to address misinformation – Sheila Bartels

Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ablekuma North Constituency on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sheila Bartels, has explained that the government’s decision to engage the populace on the E-levy is a matter of urgency.

The government will on Thursday, January 27, 2022, hold a major town hall meeting on the controversial Electronic Transactions Levy (E-levy).

The exercise forms part of a series of engagements the government has planned with the aim of explaining the importance of the E-levy as well as taking feedback and inputs from relevant stakeholders on the levy.

With these town hall meetings, Sheila Bartels argues the government will be able to address all misinformation going around about the E-levy, causing apprehension amongst the Ghanaian people.

“I believe if we look at the kind of misinformation going around and annoying people when it comes to the E-levy, we have decided as a caucus to do more and engage the public on the E-levy to create a better understanding,” she told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show.

The government also says feedback from the town hall meetings will inform it on the implementation of the levy.

The E-levy is a new tax measure introduced by the government in the 2022 Budget on basic transactions related to digital payments and electronic platform transactions.

A charge of 1.75% will apply to electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100 on a daily basis.

The town hall meeting will feature Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister for Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin.

Also, to be in attendance at the forums will be sector-specific Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other relevant industry stakeholders.