Residents within Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional Capital, have expressed their dismay over government’s decision to slap taxes on electronic transactions, saying the move is an avenue to rob the poor and marginalized in society.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, during the presentation of the 2022 budget statement in Parliament on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, announced that effective 1st January, 2022, all electronic transactions of GHC 100 and above would attract a tax of over 1.75 percent.
According to the minister, electronic banking, mobile money transfers as well as remittances will all be taxed. The minister indicated that revenues generated from E- Levy will be channelled into the construction of roads among other things.
Speaking to A1 News, one of the residents who spoke on the basis of anonymity said “we the poor people, we don’t have money, the market is not good. They have increased everything high. This government; the leaders, you that the corruption is higher? They are the people stealing the money and we the poor people are suffering. When you go to the market, the food prices are higher but they are saying that it is low. We all go to the market; the food prices they saying are low, is it true? They are rather making we the poor people to continue suffering but they themselves have chances of getting money. So, I will say they shouldn’t do that; when they do that they kill us. It’s part of the corruption that they are doing. When they deduct the money, where do they take it to?”
Another resident who gave her name as Zubaida stated that the move is unfair to the citizenry and reckons it will end up worsening the sufferings of the poor since prices of goods and services are high which is necessitated by the increment of fuel prices.
“That is going to affect us. First of all, he added onto the price of the fuel and it hasn’t helped us at all. It is going to make the economy kind of difficult for us. It will really be a burden on the poor because those who depend solely on mobile money to send money to other people will suffer. It will really really put a big burden on the poor.” Miss Zubaida stated.
A dealer in electronic goods who gave his name as Emmanuel said “ it will affect the poor because they had not planned for it especially now that the economy is hard.”
Source/www.a1radioonline.com/101.1mHz/Elijah Beyeni Yenibey//Ghana
