Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has declared that anyone who transmit GH¢3,000 in a month will not be taxed.
The Ablekuma West MP was responding to public outcry in Ghana over the government’s proposal of a 1.75 percent tax on MoMo transactions over GH¢100, among other things.
A group of Ghanaians, including the Minority in Parliament, has spoken out against the recently enacted electronic levy.
The demonstrators claim that the action will exacerbate Ghanaians’ woes.
“If you have more than a hundred to send per day, you aren’t impoverished… So, if you are truly impoverished and can donate GH¢100 every day, we need to re-classify who the true beneficiaries of these are. And only the sender, not the recipient, is responsible for payment. Unlike telecommunications companies, where both the sender and the receiver pay,” she told the press on Thursday.
Following the abolition of road tolls, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta declared on Wednesday that the government was exploring for other ways to raise money.
The new tax, according to Ms Owusu-Ekuful, is estimated to bring in around GH¢500 million every month for the government.
“So, if you’re looking at bulk payments, cashouts, person-to-person transfers, wallet-to-bank transfers, we’re looking at about GH¢11 million as of October,” he says. “If you’re looking at merchants, debit payments, sending, transfers, transfers to vouchers, and cashouts, we’re looking at about GH¢440 million.”
“If you look at GhIPSS, merchant payments, direct debit payments, and organizations paying to consumers, paying bills, and shipping money, we’re looking at GH¢45 million,” she explained. “In total, the government could earn roughly GH¢500 million from this in a month.”
