By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
Cape Coast, Jan. 27, GNA – Mr Elvis Morris Donkor, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, has described the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy) as a prudent economic measure to shore up revenue to reduce borrowing to ease debt levels.
It will ensure sustainable revenue for investment in productive ventures such as entrepreneurship, youth employment, cyber security, digitalisation and infrastructure to spark economic growth.
The E-levy remains a credible financial tool to ensure that all Ghanaians contributed their quota to increasing Ghana’s tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio and economic recovery.
Briefing the media on the essence of the levy in Cape Coast on Thursday, Mr Donkor said government intended to use funds from the levy to create one million jobs within the next three years through the ‘YouStart’ initiative.
The YouStart, which becomes operational in March 2022, was a comprehensive initiative to provide an effective solution to the country’s youth unemployment challenge.
Among others, it will support young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills and mentoring to enable them to launch and operate their own businesses as well as employ others.
He said government needed more revenue to meet the high demands of development, citing the huge numbers of graduates without jobs, who needed government’s intervention.
“The demand for good roads, schools, and hospitals amidst the huge burden of ensuring that there are job opportunities for the young ones far outweigh similar demands in my days as a youth and we, as a people, must all come to that realisation”.
Mr Donkoh urged Ghanaians to sacrifice to support the E-levy to achieve the desired national outcomes and refuted claims that it was a bad policy to burden Ghanaians.
Instead, he said, the socioeconomic problems of the country required sustainable revenue generation strategies to tackle, and “government has no intention to make life difficult for the people of Ghana”.
The E-levy was announced in the 2022 Budget as a measure to mobilise revenue from the transfer of funds through electronic means.
The Bill on the levy seeks to impose a 1.75 per cent charge on a daily transfer exceeding GH¢100, however, this has not gone down well with a cross section of the public.
While many have described it as a double taxation of the already burdened taxpayer, others have questioned its rationale in propelling national development when the combined revenue of oil, gold and cocoa had not been utilised judiciously for the same purposes.
GNA
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