Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, has stated that the proposed e-levy tax which has faced objections from various quarters will give Ghanaians more of a moral right to demand from the government.
Mr. Ofori-Atta made this statement during the government’s latest town hall to convince Ghanaians to embrace the unpopular levy.
He told participants that the e-levy would also be a step towards “the Ghanaian dream.”
“Once you pay taxes, you will have the moral authority to be able to require certain performance from the political elite, and that is what we should be doing.”
“Our call to you is to let your MPs know that beyond all of this the Ghana dream will require that we are all part of this burden-sharing…to build our country,” the minister said.
The government has also defended the levy as being necessary to widen the tax net.
The government expects the levy to provide an extra GH¢ 6.9 billion to execute developmental projects in 2022.
According to the budget, up to 0.25 percentage points of the 1.75 percent e-transaction levy or 16.7 percent of the yield from the levy, should be used to support road infrastructure development.
Ten percent of the 0.25 percentage points, i.e. 1.67% of the yield from the levy, would be dedicated to improvements in public transportation, including the purchase of buses.
