E-Levy is not double taxation – Anti-corruption crusader Vitus Azeem

Previous Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) Vitus Azeem has argued that will Government’s proposed electronic deal levy, the E-Levy ( known commonly as MoMo tax) is neither the double taxation nor the tax on capital associated with businesses, insisting that the E-Levy is a service tax similar to the Value Added Tax(VAT) or even road tolls. Mr Azeem who holds a HANDBAG in Economics and Mindset and a Masters Degree within Taxation from the University associated with Akron, Akron, Ohio in america, explained that being able to deliver money electronically, which saves time and the risk associated with armed attacks, is a services and any tax onto it is a service tax. “Much as I am not a enthusiast of indirect taxes (retrogressive nature), I don’t agree with the particular argument that the e-levy is definitely double taxation or a taxes on capital. It is a assistance tax. Instead of driving for your bank, queuing up to pull away your money, exposing yourself to equipped robbery, you sit in your own home and spend, using cellular money. You are definitely obtaining a service. It is the same as the particular VAT we already pay out or the tolls we utilized to pay, ” he true. His comment comes at any given time the proposed E-Levy has been criticized as detrimental in order to Ghanaian businesses since it has got the potential of crippling companies by eating into their capital plus discouraging people from taking on Government’s digitalisation agenda. Mister Azeem assertion has been countered by some Economists and as well as tax experts who say, notwithstanding his expertise in taxation, he has got it wrong since the E-Levy unmistakably targets capital of businesses. Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta while presenting the 2022 budget statement to Parliament in November said “It is becoming clear there exists the enormous potential to increase tax revenues by bringing to the tax bracket, transactions that would be best defined as being undertaken in the ‘informal economy”. “After considerable deliberations, the us government has decided to place a levy on all electronic transactions to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector. This shall be known as the ‘Electronic Transaction Levy or E-Levy’. ”The Minister explained that the new E-levy would have been a 1 . 75 percent charge on all electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances to be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient. Source: MyNewsGh. com/ 2021
Send your news stories to [email protected] and via WhatsApp on +233 202452509
Related Topics: FeatureGhana