Impose 0.5% Levy On Cash-outs – Telecos Chamber Tells Govt

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (GCT) has called on the government to lower the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy) from 1% to 0.5% and impose a 0.5% levy on cash-outs to align the policy with Ghana’s digital-first strategy.

“Our recommendation to the Ministry of Finance is to consider reducing the levy on transfer to 0.5% and introduce a 0.5% levy on cash-outs among other proposals,” the Chamber added in a statement.

Despite initial challenges, the E-levy has generated significant revenue for the government, collecting GH¢482.8 million of the targeted GH¢6.9 billion.

However, the Chamber believes further revisions are necessary to promote digital payments and align with the government’s digital transformation goals.

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications highlighted that telcos contributed over GH¢6 billion in taxes and other payments in 2022, a 50% increase from GH¢4 billion in 2021.

This underscores the industry’s substantial contribution to Ghana’s economy.

The GCT’s 2022 Mobile Industry Transparency Initiative report, released on November 21, 2023, details the industry’s contributions to the country’s development.

Speaking at the launch of the 2022 Mobile Industry Transparency Initiative report held on November 21, 2023, in Accra, Ghana, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunication (GCT), Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey revealed that the industry’s contribution of GH¢ 6.07 billion constitutes approximately 8.02% of the government’s 2022 tax revenue of ¢75.71 billion, as outlined in the 2022 annual report of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The report also found that the industry employs directly over 2,600 people and indirectly creates over 1.2 million jobs. This includes over 505,000 active Mobile Money Agents.

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