GHANA – Parliament Officially Passes Controversial “E-Levy” Bill In Ghana

The “E-Levy” bill will enforce a 1.5% tax on mostly digital transactions in the country. The bill has been controversial with lots of pushback from the minority in parliament as well as most of the general population.

The tax covers mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances and could raise up to 6.9 billion Ghanaian cedi ($926 million) in 2022, according to official estimates.

Here is a list of all transactions which will currently be taxed once the “E-Levy” comes into law:

1. Mobile Money Transfers between accounts on the same Electronic Money Issuer (EMI)
2. Mobile Money transfers from an account on one EMI to a recipient on another EMI
3. Transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts
4. Transfer from mobile money accounts to bank accounts;
5. Bank transfers on a digital platform or application which originate from a bank account belonging to an individual, to another individual.

There are some concessions on the E-Levy and some areas the tax will not affect: These include:

1. Cumulative transfers of GHS 100 per day made by the same person;
2. Transfers between accounts owned by the same person;
3. Transfers for the payment of taxes, fees, and charges on the Ghana.gov platform;
4. Electronic Clearing of Cheques;
5. Specified merchant payments (i.e. payments to commercial establishments registered with GRA for Income Tax and VAT purposes); and
6. Transfers between principal, master-agent, and agent’s accounts.

Developing…..