Internet outages: ‘We’ll let charging entities refund all wrongful e-levy charges’ — GRA

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has assured the public that all electronic transfer levy (e-levy) charges wrongfully deducted during recent internet outages in the country will be refunded.

In a statement dated March 22, the tax collection agency noted that disruptions in internet connectivity over the past week have led some charging entities to mistakenly deduct e-levy from transactions that are exempted.

"GRA recognizes that the outage may have led to some Charging Entities deducting E-Levy for transactions that are ultimately exempt. GRA is working closely with Charging Entities to ensure a smooth and efficient process for handling offline transactions and reimbursing wrongful deductions," the statement noted in part.

The statement added that "Charging Entities shall therefore be responsible for reimbursing customers for any E-Levy charges that were incorrectly applied after GRA completes its processes on refund requests."

The internet disruptions hindered real-time routing of electronic transactions by charging entities to the authority's Electronic Transfer Levy Management and Assurance System (ELMAS), resulting in some transactions being wrongly classified.

To address this, the GRA said it has put in place temporary procedures to process delayed "Offline Transactions" to ensure e-levy is only charged on applicable deals.