Nana admits there is hardship in the system, but we need the E-levy for development- Solomon Owusu

The electronic transactions levy, otherwise known as the E-levy is still dominating discussions on political talk shows in the country. The levy which has been the bone of contention between the two caucuses in Parliament is described by the minority as being regressive. The minority caucus contends that, if the E-levy is approved, it will overburden the poor and vulnerable in the country. However, in a presser organized by the governing New Patriotic Party, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta said the E-levy is pro-poor and largely progressive.

He stressed that the government considered the plights of the poor and vulnerable hence fixing the threshold of the levy at 100 Ghana cedis. The Finance Minister consequently stated that the government will go ahead with the E-levy as proposed, but will engage the minority in other to build a consensus on the levy.

Reacting to the E-levy on today’s episode of the HotNews Show on Pan Africa TV ( December 6), Solomon Owusu, a member of the NPP communication team has said though he as well as the president agrees that there is hardship in the system, the government must look for a way to collect the taxes that are needed for the development of the country. Solomon Owusu admitted that there could be a more innovative way to collect the taxes needed for the development of the country, but he said that it is pending the building of a strong data collection system that will help rope the informal sector into the tax net of the country. According to him, the governing New Patriotic Party intends to create a strong database system by synchronizing all the data of all Ghanaians into the Ghana Card.

“The president has agreed or has admitted that the is hardship in the system, me too sitting down here, I agree there is hardship in the system. Until we get to the point where the majority are captured ( onto a database), Justice, you will agree with me that, you cannot also sit down as a government by not collecting revenue. You have to look for the easy way out while doing what is necessary”, he said.

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