Former Finance Minister Mr. Seth Emmanuel Terkper has urged the government to put policies in place that would encourage Ghanaians to pay their fair share of taxes.
This comes after it was noted that some Ghanaians were skipping out on paying their taxes since the 1.5 percent Electronic Transactions Levy had been implemented (E-Levy).
Mobile Money (MoMo) payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances are all covered by the charge.
Mr. Terkper, a tax professional, observed that the adoption of the tax measure to raise the government's income had encouraged individuals to evade the payment of the tax at a conversation on the status of the Ghanaian economy that he organised on a virtual platform.
To avoid paying the 1.5 percent charge, which would have an impact on the decreased estimated income of GHS4.5 billion from the initial GHS6.9 billion, many Ghanaians have started dealing directly with MoMo Agents for transfers.
The E-Levy will not provide the anticipated income outcome for this year, according to Mr. Terkper, a Chartered Accountant, because of the delays in the levy's launch and the "high rate" of the tax.
Because the E-Levy taxes savings and loans, he continued, if a worker applies for a loan at a bank while their employees are out in the field and they get e-transfers from you, that loan will be subject to the tax.
In order to get around the tax, he said, "people are going to find a way around it, and really they've started by going to deal directly with the MoMo enterprises along the roadside."
As a result, the Tax Professional stated that since the levy's implementation was postponed from January to May, it was probably not going to produce much this year.
According to Mr. Terkper, the government must enact the necessary legislation to enable the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to close the gaps.
Regarding the present inflationary pressures, Mr. Terkper stated that it was essential for those in charge of managing the economy to incorporate domestic policies into their interventions.
They must develop a domestic policy. The only thing that worries me is that I haven't seen the domestic policy that government representatives have mentioned. It may be there on the inside," he remarked.
"The markets lack faith in it if it is included in the budget. Therefore, we must take really harsh action on our own, which will be praiseworthy," he continued.
He warned the government from defaulting in regards to the nation's debt, which saw a rise of GHS40 billion from GH351.7 to GH391.9 billion in March 2022.
The worst thing that might happen to us is to default, I would say as a word of warning. Given that our decision to finance the budget through the domestic market is not going as expected due to the auction shortages and other factors, Mr. Terkper remarked.