13th January 2025 11:57:12 AM
2 mins readDr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Finance Minister-designate, has reaffirmed his commitment to immediately remove the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) after a thorough evaluation.
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During his vetting with the Appointments Committee of Parliament on January 13, Dr. Forson emphasized his approach to the controversial tax.
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"Why is it always revenue and not expenditure? I think you have a choice of both. Remove the e-levy and replace it or remove e-levy, don't replace and cut corresponding expenditure. The option is on the table," he stated.
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Forson further assured that his stance on the E-Levy remains unchanged, saying, "As minister, I will consider the e-levy holistically and the fact that it is going and assess its impact and assess it appropriately but my commitment won't change. E-levy has to go and it will go immediately."
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Despite Forson’s assurances, some tax analysts have raised concerns about the potential economic consequences of abolishing the E-Levy without adequate replacements. Tax consultant Francis Timore Boi warned that removing both the E-Levy and the COVID-19 Levy, which are projected to generate GHC7.7 billion in 2025, could undermine the government’s IMF-backed fiscal strategy.
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"If any policy you seek to introduce may bring down revenue, the IMF may not be happy with that," Boi cautioned. "You are planning to abolish the COVID-19 levy and the E-Levy. COVID-19 levy alone in 2025 is estimated to bring in about GHC5.6 billion. If you take it off, how are you going to replace it? In 2025, we are expecting E-Levy to give us about GHC2.1 billion and in 2026, it is projected to increase to about GHC2.4 billion."
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Political Scientist Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante also advised caution, recommending that the government consider a phased reduction of the E-Levy rather than its outright removal.
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