‘I made a proposal that we should put signpost by projects funded with E-levy’

The Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim Constituency in the Western Region says they are considering putting signposts on projects that will be funded by E-levy if accepted.

He was speaking on Skyy Power 93.5FM’s Jolly Breakfast Show on Monday, February 21, in which he said the 2022 budget contains progressive policies but the opposition is trying to use the E-levy as a propaganda tool to defame it.

This comes after Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, on behalf of the government, presented the 2022 budget, indicating a 1.75 per cent charge on all electronic transactions on Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The E-levy charges will affect all online transactions such as mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchants and inward remittance across the country.

Mr Armah says, it seems some Ghanaians who are against the E-levy have not been educated on the importance of the policy or are either being misinformed by the opposition.

He also said he made a proposal that any project that will be funded with the E-levy if accepted should be indicated as so.

He said, “I even made a proposal that there should be a signpost by any project, be it road, a building or any other, with the inscription ‘Funded by E-levy’, so Ghanaians will know the importance of the tax they are paying or about to pay.”

Also, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, responding to the concerns, at a town hall meeting in Sekondi said the E-levy was a deep request from the President to create jobs, build more infrastructure to improve the general well-being of Ghanaians.

He said the current situation where only a percentage of Ghanaians paid taxes was not favourable to realising the rapid socio-economic aspirations of the country.

Mr. Ofori-Atta said, “The E-levy will make all Ghanaians responsible in paying taxes and reinforce their moral rights to demand more social amenities and development.”

The E-levy, he touted, would help boost education delivery, strengthen internal security, health care services, as well as other government flagship programmes, especially the “YouStart”programme.

He said currently, the proposed 1.75 per cent had been slashed to 1.5 per cent and covered a regime of electronic transactions since the terrain was emerging and could be a possible source for revenue generation.