Bismark Osei, an Economist has admitted that while the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) is a good way of raising revenues due to the continued use of electronic platforms, the proposed rate of 1.5 per cent is still too high for many small and medium scale businesses to afford.
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East, Mr. Osei urged the government to reduce the levy to a flat rate of 1 per cent, assess the situation and make the necessary adjustment later in the future. He said should government fail to do this, it risks not raising the almost ghc7 billion revenue target.
“If you look at the charges that you will still pay if you consider the levy at 1.5 percent, it is still very high. People will find a way of running away and they [the government] will not meet their target. I feel that 1 percent is okay,” he said.
He continued to say that “throwing it [the e-levy] away totally is a no. There is a lot of money that is passing through that sector. If the government wants to cut down on borrowing, if the government wants to cut down on spending, then we have to consider it,” he said.
Mr. Osei insisted that the E-levy “is a very powerful response towards raising money locally”.
The Economist suggested to the government to automate the road tolls, double the monies collected and also increase the number of tollbooths scattered across the country.
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Mr. Osei laughed off comments that suggested that once the Ghana Revenue Authority has reached its target revenue and even surpassed it, it means Ghana is raising enough revenue. He said GRA’s target for revenue generation is ridiculously low. He suggested setting targets between ghc 80 and ghc 100 billion. He said once these targets are set and reached, then it could be said that enough revenue has been raised.
A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith |Bolgatanga|Ghana
