1.75% Momo tax : The poor are exempted – Oppong-Nkrumah

The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah has said the poor in the Ghanaian society are exempted from the 1.75% mobile money tax announced by the government yesterday.

That he said was because, data available shows some 40% of the Ghanaian population engages in transaction below ₵100.

That group, he said represents the poor in the society.

Mr Oppong-Nkrumah was speaking on TV3 New360 on Wednesday, November 17, monitored by GhanaPlus.com.

He was speaking about the 1.75% electronic transaction levy announced by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta in Parliament.

The tax was contained in the 2021 Budget Statement presented by Mr Ken Ofori-Atta.

“What we have done is that we have removed the road rolls and we have introduce 1.75 electronic transaction levy which apply as at this stage only to mobile money transfer exceeding ₵100 and it only applies to the sender”.

“And the reason is that, when you study the data of mobile money transfer up to about 40 is under ₵100 and that map very well with the poor and the vulnerable in the society.  Now beyond ₵100, you see people who do some larger volume of transactions and so this 1.75% only applies to the sender of mobile money (Momo) above ₵100,” Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said.

“We have considered the impact, the first point is that for those who fall within the category of the poor who do transaction less than ₵100 cedis, they will pay zero and I think we must always make this point that the poor are exempted from this tax category. At first when this sort of charge was being exerted on road tolls the poor were not exempted from it,” he said.

Momo tax more equitable, effective than road tolls- Oppong-Nkrumah

Mr Oppong-Nkrumah noted the momo tax was a more equitable and more effective way of generating enough revenue for development.

Adding, unlike the road tolls which was limited to a few vehicles, the electronic transaction tax covers more people.

Gov’t of Ghana introduce 1.75%  Momo tax

The Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta while presenting the 2021 Budget Statement on Wednesday, November 17 announced a 1.75% electronic transaction levy applicable on momo transfers above ₵100.

The tax, he said was to help widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector into the country tax payment system.

“After considerable deliberations, the 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”, Mr Ofori-Atta told Parliament.

Source: GhanaPlus.com