The Communication team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has hit the streets of Accra to explain e-levy to Ghanaians.
Alhaji Aziz Futah, the National Nasara Coordinator, disclosed in a forum at Nima that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) will keep collecting the e-levy from Ghanaians if they lead the country after the levy is passed into law by the ruling party.
He said; “They are only playing politics and propaganda knowing very well that no country can develop without taking tax.”
He also disclosed that all the stories from the opposition camp concerning the e-levy are false and should be rejected.
“They will not cancel the levy because it was in their 2020 manifesto and they planned to collect it when they come to power,” he stated.
He also explained the e-levy isn’t just to widen the tax net but also to see to the development of Ghana, hence urging Ghanaians to support it.
The leadership of the NPP took the forum to Lapaz to educate Ghanaians on the benefit of the e-levy.
The National Youth Organizer, Henry Nana Boakye of the party described the opposition NDC as hypocrites and only putting up a performance against the e-levy.
Nana B also narrated how NDC’s propaganda against the e-levy once compelled a certain young entrepreneur Kwame Kyei to lose his livelihood.
Nana B narrated Kwame Kyei’s story saying “one faithful morning, Kwame Kyei, upon hearing the announcement from the NDC sponsored campaign against the yet-to-be introduced e-levy [tax] that the NPP government is planning to tax MoMo transactions and reduce the money on their wallet, left him in fear and thereby rushing to a Mobile Money vendor nearby to withdraw his hard earned savings of Ghc 1,800.00 just to avoid the alleged ‘stealing’ from his wallet by government”, Nana B said.
Kwame Kyei “withdrew the money which he usually sit in the comfort of his shop and order his wares from Techiman market avoiding the risk of traveling long hours and rather save time and energy and then also make some sales on the day he anticipate the arrival of his Milo, Sugar, Milk, ‘Alewa’, etc to boost his business decided to travel with the ¢1,800 and his mobile phone in his pocket to Techiman Market and bring the wares by himself”.
“The promising entrepreneur but unlucky Kwame Kyei, lost his money and phone to the waiting ‘pickpockets’ at the Techiman market before he arrived at ‘Opanin Donyina’s shop”, he recounted.
The controversial e-levy bill has received a lot of opposition as a section of the Ghanaian populace regards it as high and a burden.
The opposition NDC has vehemently opposed it also describing it as insensitive and a draconian tax.
They have pledged all in their power to ensure the bill is not passed, taking a step further to rally support towards the #Yentua demonstration against the levy held on Thursday.
The E-levy is a new tax measure introduced by the government in the 2022 Budget on basic transactions related to digital payments and electronic platform transactions.
A charge of 1.75% will apply to electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100 on a daily basis.
