The Deputy Minister for Tourism, Mark Okraku Mantey, calls on the government to focus on taxing online activities now that the electronic levy has been successfully passed.
Mark Okraku Mantey submitted this petition in an interview on GTV in Accra. He outlined that online businesses should contribute their quota through taxes to help Ghana’s development.
According to him, SMEs cannot thrive because of huge financial obligations. But if the tax scope is spread to cover online businesses, the revenue would still trickle in but not from a few overburdened ones.
“Again, the small business enterprise comes up in a few years, and they collapse because they are overloaded with some taxes. So, why don’t we expand the scope to help reduce corporate Ghana of taxes? We can distribute it such that you don’t overload the few who have agreed to pay for it”.
Mr Mantey pointed out how lucrative online/cyber businesses have become lucrative with the evolution of the digital space. He said, “My creative people are selling on YouTube, iTunes, bolt foods, uber. People are now buying clothes online. Are they paying anything to the government? No. After the momo, I think we need to go heavily online and then cyber to see what we can get from there.”
He disclosed that he supports E-levy because it allows skilled workers in the informal sector to pay direct tax on their income. Mark Okraku also pointed out they are quick to complain about poor infrastructure, poor road networks and others but have not been contributing their quota. “So I ask myself, how do we fix these things that make you complain about what you do not contribute?”
In his opinion, the E-Levy will help the country tax YouTubers, vloggers, and bloggers who earn on social media and other online transactions.
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