Ghanaians and all users of electronic payment platforms will from Sunday, May 1, start paying a 1.
50 percent charge on transactions exceeding a cumulative amount of GH¢100 a day.
The charges will be on Mobile Money (MoMo) payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances at the time of transfer.
The implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy Act, 2022 (Act 1075), Ghana’s newly introduced revenue generation mechanism, received presidential assent on March 31, after it was passed by Parliament on Tuesday, March 29, despite the Minority side staging a walkout.
Banks, including Fidelity, OmniBSIC, GCB have started issuing statements to customers that it would instantly apply the 1.50 levy, effective Sunday.
In a message to customers on Friday, April 29, Fidelity Bank said: “Dear valued customer, effective May 1, 2022, E-Levy will apply to instant electronic transactions.”
OmniBSIC also said: “Dear valued customer, please be informed that effective May 1, 2022, the E-Levy will be charged on electronic transfers.”
The move, the government said was to enhance revenue mobilisation by broadening the tax base and widening the tax net to include a large portion of the population that remains untaxed.
It is to also help increase Ghana’s tax-to-GDP ratio from approximately 12.5 percent in 2021 to 20 percent by 2024.
It is expected that the E-Levy will give the country a revenue of GHS6.9 billion by the close of the 2022 financial year.
The Government has indicated that proceeds from the E-Levy would be used to help tackle the challenges of high youth unemployment, support the provision of digital infrastructure and cyber security, road infrastructure, and entrepreneurship (particularly, the YouStart initiative).
The country’s revenue collection and implementing Agency of the levy, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has explained that the levy would be applied on the value (amount) of transfer above GHS100 on a daily basis per person.
That is, after GHS100 a day cumulative transfer, the E-Levy would be applied.
This include Mobile Money (MoMo) transfers done between wallets on the same electronic money issuer.
In this case, when an individual sends money from a MTN MoMo wallet to another person’s MTN MoMo wallet exceeding the GHS100 per day threshold, the levy would be applied.
Again, the levy would be applicable to transfers from a wallet on one electronic money issuer to a recipient on another electronic money issue. For example, sending money from your MTN MoMo wallet to another person’s AirtelTigo cash wallet.
Similarly, the levy will cover transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts, just as done for transfers from mobile money accounts to bank accounts.
Transactions exempted from the payment of the levy
On the other hand, the levy does not apply to a cumulative transfer of GHS100 per day made by the same person involving MoMo.
Transfers between accounts owned by the same person, for example, a transfer from Kojo’s Tigo wallet to his MTN wallet or from his CBG bank account to his GCB bank account or from his savings account to his current or investment account would not attract the levy.
Again, any payment of taxes, fees or charges made to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) or Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDA) using the Ghana.gov platform or any other Government of Ghana designated payment system will equally not attract the levy.
Apart from this, clearing of cheques by the banks and specialised deposit taking institutions (SDIs) such as the savings and loans companies, will also not attract the levy.
Source: GNA