Ken Ashigbey, Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications
Merchant transactions constitute only 3% of all mobile money transactions
1.75 levy will be charged on electronic transactions
E-levy may erode digital agenda
Chief Executive of the Ghana Telecommunications Chamber, Ken Ashigbey, has said the market for digital transactions is growing but is not fully ready to be taxed like other developed countries hence the need to establish careful means to roll out the e-levy.
He believes that Ghana will derive a lot from digital financial transactions if merchant-driven transactions are more than person-to-person mobile money transactions.
According to him, data showed that merchant transactions constitute just about 3% currently as opposed to 97% of person-to-person transactions.
He was speaking at Deloitte’s economic dialogue on the 2022 budget on the theme ‘Digitalization as a catalyst for economic recovery and growth’.
During the presentation of the 2022 budget, the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta mentioned that from January 1 2021, 1.75% levy will be charged on all electronic transactions.
This announcement has been followed with various agitations from the general public, with some saying this will affect Ghana’s journey to digitalization.
Stakeholders have argued that if government does not devise strategic ways to generate revenue from digital transactions, it will erode the digitalization move and affect the country’s digital financial inclusion.
Ken Ashigbey also mentions that the implementation of the tax is discriminatory saying banks are allowed to do transfers without being charged whiles mobile money transfers are being charged.
He adds that this will drive those who used to perform a lot of high gap mobile transactions to the banks just to escape mobile money charges.