Following the government’s introduction of 1.75% Electronic Transaction Levy in the 2022 budget which was presented before parliament by Finance Minister Ken Offori Atta, some users of the mobile money platform in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region have threatened to stop using the electronic transaction service as they say the E-levy will be a financial burden.
Speaking to a customer quizzed “now that they are putting more tax on it, it is better we go back to our banks than to be doing mobile money. If you are putting money in the bank and they are deducting and you come to mobile money and their even putting more charges on it. Is it not better going back to the bank?”.
“It will be better to have my money than send through mobile money and be taxed, I’ll rather have it and if the thieves steal it, that’s fine, it is better” another customer added.
Meanwhile, merchants of electronic transaction services in the Bolgatanga Municipality have kicked against the tax policy. The merchants say it is a deliberate attempt to kill their business and also render them jobless. They have made a passionate appeal for government to reconsider its decision.
A vendor, who gave his name as Zechariah explained that “because of the charges on the mobile money, I don’t think we can continue the work, the charges are plenty. Because of the charges, I don’t think the customers will come for transactions”.
“If there is a way out I think the government should work it out if not all of us will become jobless because mobile money is our only source of livelihood ” another vendor retorted.
Also, John Amoah a vendor, alleged that the government is deliberately trying to collapse the Mobile mobile Services as it collapsed the Banks.
