By Sunday Elijah
On Tuesday, Ghanaian Parliament passed a controversial Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Bill, when Minority Members staged a walked-out on the basis that the tax is a tool to exacerbate the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian.
The newly introduced tax, which has remain a topic of discussion among Ghanaians, is expected to generate about ¢6 billion in tax revenue for the country.
Initially, 1.75% was proposed but eventually 1.5% was adopted.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has already hinted that its structures have been revised and ready to ensure mobilization of the income.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has already signed it into law and below is a list of transactions to be affected and those exempted as the law comes into effect, as provided for by the Finance Ministry.
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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