Dr. Ken Ashigbey, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Telecommunications Chamber, has demanded that the electronic transactions levy (E-levy) be decreased from 1.5% to 0.1%.
He claims that the imposition of the 1.5% e-levy has been detrimental to the growth of Ghana’s digital sector as well as the government.
He argued that while demanding the complete elimination of the tax, measures would be callous given the government’s desperate need for cash amid an economic crisis, lowering it to 0.1% would revitalize the digital economy and increase government revenue.
He remarked, “Our proposition is the fact that, you know, they should scrap it,” on JoyNews’ PM Express Business Edition. But let’s face it, the government right now needs funding. The deficit situation is detrimental to business, has an impact on business, and is one of the factors contributing to the depreciation of the cedi. It would destabilize the macros.
Therefore, we believe that lowering the level is the wisest course of action. Some in the sector have been talking about doing 0.5, but I have indicated that doing 0.1 is the wisest course of action.
He continued by saying that in addition to lowering the rate, the government ought to set a ceiling on it.
To encourage more large transactions on mobile money systems, Dr. Ken Ashigbey proposed that transactions of 5,000 cedis or more only be subject to a fixed e-levy rate.
He claims that the current capless structure makes it extremely unfavorable to do large-scale business via digital platforms.
“Well, let’s lower the level to 0.1 and then cap it. 5,000 cedis, perhaps. The levy is set at 5,000 cedis so that, you know, if anyone wants to send 10,000 cedis, that will happen.
Eliminate the disparity between the 20,000 that you pay to the banks and the 20,000 that you give to mobile money so that the disparity is not based on that, he continued.
Dr. Ashigbey, on the other hand, wants the government to set a limit on how much cash can be spent in a single transaction.
When physical transactions are limited to 2,000 cedis, for example, he claims that consumers will be forced to use mobile money networks for major transactions.
“Another novel idea that we would suggest is to set a limit on any cash-based transaction, so let’s say 2,000 cedis. Use digital means for any transaction that costs more than 2,000 cedis for mobile money, for the banks and all of that.
In the future, he predicted, “many of the things that go underground… a lot of stuff you’ll be able to pull them off and then you’ll be able to see a lot of movement in terms of currency and that also will help.”
“And then, in terms of government payments, make sure that all of them are required to be made simply and in a way that allows people to pay, so that tolls that people pay in the market and everything else will do so using these digital means. And if you’re going to do that, make sure it’s easy to do and seamless,” he continued.
Source : Joy news