A lawyer and former Executive Director of Danquah Institute, Gabby Otchere has stated that Electronic Transfer Levy (e-levy) is not a bad tax measure. Gabby instead blames the underperformance of e-levy on the claim that Ghanaians evade paying taxes.
On Monday June 27, Gabby, in a series of posts on social media stated that e-levy has failed to meet government’s expectations since its passage in May earlier this year. The lawyer lamented that e-levy has only delivered 10 % of the estimated target, an indication that Ghanaians simply don’t want to pay taxes.
Sharing his posts;
After 5 months of stalemate and bashing, the e-levvy, after implementation is delivering only 10 % of estimated revenues, our revenues remain very low as compared to the rest of the world; debt levels dangerously high, cedi, like most currencies, struggling against the US dollar.
If the e-levy is so far not bringing in the estimated revenues, it does not mean it is a bad tax. It means Ghanaians simply do not want to pay taxes.
President Akufo-Addo passed the e-levy earlier this year although this tax measure was strongly opposed by the majority of Ghana citizens and as well as some parliamentarians and civil society groups. The government still believes e-levy is a good tax measure to improve the nation’s revenue.
