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GHANA WEATHER

Some Momo Agents fear losing jobs over E-Levy

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By Bridget Baidoo and Wendy Blay

The proposal to introduce the electronic transaction levy, E-Levy to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector, has generated national discourse over the past weeks, and many have called for its cancellation.

Transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances will have the levy imposed on them and will be borne by the sender.

The decision has incurred the anger of the Mobile Money Operators Association of Ghana, which has served notice to embark on an industrial action on December 23, 2021, to drum home their protest against the 1.75% tax on the E-Levy.

GBC News’ Bridget Baidoo and Wendy Blay caught up with a MoMo agent at NIMA, Accra and here is what he had to say on the subject.

”It has affected our local people who come to do transactions, all I heard them say is they are coming to withdraw all their money from their wallets and so if the person doesn’t have any money in his wallet, how will the person come to your shop for any transaction. And well, for some time now, it has dropped my commission. If Ghana wants to broaden its tax base, it must be taxing each transaction. What the E-Levy stands to do now is to tax every transaction.

They should really look into it, drop it down a bit. I think it’s a bit difficult in terms of the kind of system you can put in to check to make sure people don’t pay the taxes per transaction but paying it a month of each transaction that you do per amount will be the best way to go.”

The Agent said the 1.75% is rather high and urged the government to reduce it. He suggested that the government devise a system that will have business transactions only taxed.

”This would boost domestic transactions.”

According to the Agent, the E-levy comes into force in February 2022, and business is affected, most of his colleagues in the MoMo business will have no choice but to close down.

”So, first, I’m thinking it’s too high, it can be dropped, Second, they should put in systems that can check for business transactions transfers instead of taxing every transaction.

If you say as a vendor, it won’t affect you, the only thing is you are going to pass the cost to the consumer, what about if the consumer doesn’t come, how will you be able to do business, you don’t even exist. So at the end, you will someday decide to close down.”

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