Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has refuted claims that the passage of the controversial E-Levy will kill the Momo industry.
Reacting to these claims, the Minister insisted that the claims are false and that the poor have been taken out of it.
He said there is a claim that has been made that it [E-Levy] will kill Momo industry so don’t tax Momo. This same claim was made when the Communications Service Tax was being introduced, it has not killed the industry, in fact, the industry, has grown. Mr. Speaker, the poor have been taken out of it with the threshold implemented so that those who transfer less than 100 cedis a day will not pay this levy,” he said.
Parliament on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, passed the Electronic Transfer Levy in the absence of the Minority MPs.
The Minority staged a walk out before the Bill was considered at the second reading stage.
The Minority had complained that it had been taken by surprise by the unexpected consideration of the levy.
All the proposed amendments standing in the name of some Minority MPs were withdrawn because none of them was present to move those amendments in their name.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, said he was surprised by the Minority.
The levy, which was amended from 1.75 percent to 1.5.
It will be a tax on electronic transactions, which includes mobile-money payments.
The charge will apply to electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100 on a daily basis.
Transactions E-Levy will cover
Mobile money transfers between accounts on the same electronic money issuer (EMI)
Mobile money transfers from an account on one EMI to a recipient on another EMI
Transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts
Transfer from mobile money accounts to bank accounts
Bank transfers on a digital platform or application which originate from a bank account belonging to an individual to another individual
Transactions E-Levy will NOT cover
Cumulative transfers of GHC100 per day made by the same person
Transfers between accounts owned by the same person
Transfers for the payment of taxes, fees and charges on the Ghana.gov platform
Electronic clearing of cheques
Specified merchant payments (that is, payments to commercial establishments registered with the GRA for income tax and VAT purposes)
Transfers between principal, master agent and agent’s accounts
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana