E-Levy is typically what we call nuisance tax; it is doing more harm than good – Ato Forson

Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has reiterated Minority’s plan to cancel the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) in the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

Speaking to GTV on the Tuesday Breakfast Show, the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament insisted that the E-Levy is a nuisance tax that is doing more harm than good.

He shared that just as the new tax has failed to rake in the projected revenue in the first two months, it will be the same in the coming months.

“I have told them from day one that they were overly ambitious with E-Levy because that tax handle was not properly thought through and it was bound to crash.

“E-Levy is the true definition of what we call nuisance tax. Upon all the noise, and the divisions it brought to us as a country it is generating only GHS50 million a month.

“It’s just a regressive tax with no proper revenue and I will urge the government to reconsider its position. They have to remove it, simple,” Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson stressed.

The Minority MP added, “E-Levy will do more harm to Ghana than good. It is going to reverse all the gains we have made in the digital space, particularly with payment systems. Why do you charge medium of exchange? It is unacceptable.”

He further noted that just as has been hammered in the past since the E-Levy was introduced, the NDC will repeal the tax as soon as it captures power from the ruling NPP in the 2024 general election.

“We in the NDC believe that given the opportunity we will remove the E-Levy anyway and anytime. It will feature in our very first budget when we win power,” Dr. Ato Forson noted.