Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has once again bemoaned the negative impact of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) on ordinary Ghanaians.
According to him, apart from being poorly designed and inequitable, the controversial tax policy adds to the operational costs of new and innovative businesses within the technology space.
A member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, recently stated that the e-levy introduced by the government to generate additional cash for the government is raking in only 10% of estimated revenue.
This has led to calls for the levy to, among other things, be scrapped.
Commenting on the E-levy ahead of the presentation of the mid-year budget review, Mr. Terkper urged the government to look for ways to provide new businesses with incentives to facilitate their growth.
“They are the ones who should get tax concessions. They are not the ones who should suffer the tax.”
But he complained that Ghana is currently “doing the reverse.”
“You have old industries, and you keep renewing their incentives and when new industries come, we rather tax them instead of providing them with incentives,” Mr. Terkper said.
