The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has indicated that it has the systems in place to begin implementation of the electronic transaction levy (E-levy) if it is passed by Parliament.
Declaring his outfit’s readiness on Joy FM yesterday morning, Special Aide to the Commissioner-General, Dr. Dominic Naab said officials are conscientising themselves to ensure that there are no challenges should the levy be passed.
“We are trying to understand the system. We are more than ready to implement the levy. We are looking at how other areas are doing theirs and I can tell you we will get there,” he said yesterday.
His comment was part of statements made on the show regarding the proposed e-levy and a letter issued by the GRA to its agencies to ready themselves for implementation.
In the letter dated January, 31, GRA directed partners such as the ARB Apex Bank to trigger processes awaiting the passage of the controversial bill.
Dr. Naab confirmed to host Winston Amoah that the letter was issued by the GRA and explained the rationale for it, “for us at the Ghana Revenue Authority, we have the mandate to administer taxes,” he said.
“It hasn’t been passed into law, it’s just a bill. So we have looked at the Bill but we know that if it’s passed, there will be some changes so we only need to tweak our system to be able to actually accommodate it,” he added.
The e-levy is still awaiting approval from Parliament.
The tax proposal which is currently in Parliament will see the government deduct 1.75% tax on some electronic financial transactions by citizens.
The e-Levy has been the bone of contention since the government presented its 2022 Budget statement to the House last year.
According to the Finance Ministry, the move will increase the country’s tax-to-GDP from 13% to a targeted 16% or more and $6.9 billion in revenue.
But the Minority insists that the 1.75% tax is a tool to exacerbate the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian, which the Covid-19 pandemic has already impacted.
