Economics professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin has criticised the controversial Electronic Levy (E-Levy), describing it as an emotionally driven policy whose failure was predictable from the outset.

Speaking on Joy News' PM Express on Wednesday, March 27, he stated that the tax policy lacked proper scrutiny before implementation, leading to unintended consequences.

“You don’t need to be an economist to agree that this was poorly designed,” Prof. Bokpin remarked. “If you see the actual versus the expected revenue and all of that, it tells you that this was not a policy that clearly went through the filtering process.”

According to him, even within the Ministry of Finance, there was likely insufficient critical analysis and sensitivity testing before the policy was rolled out.

“I believe that at the Ministry of Finance, the tax policy unit, I’m not sure this one was really subjected to critical analysis, sensitivity analysis, and all of that,” he added.

The economist pointed out that the government’s frequent changes to tax structures in recent years have imposed a significant compliance burden on businesses.

“If you look at the last two and a half years of the NPP administration, almost every six months, you have to reconfigure your system to be tax compliant.

"The compliance costs incurred by banks, financial institutions, and manufacturing companies just to be compliant are huge,” he noted.

Prof. Bokpin also emphasized the counterproductive nature of the levy, arguing that it directly discouraged financial inclusion and economic formalisation.

“You send money to your wife after having paid your taxes, and you have to pay a lot of tax on it. I don’t want to say it’s evil, but it was backward.”

He welcomed the government’s decision to repeal the levy, noting that the move signals a reset for the digital economy.

“I think it’s good that we are resetting, and we are starting from this point. The good news is that we will see Momo uptake again,” he stated, highlighting the importance of mobile money in driving financial inclusion and economic growth.

Prof. Bokpin urged policymakers to learn from the experience and ensure that future tax policies are subjected to rigorous evaluation before implementation.

“We want to build a digital economy. If you look at the role financial inclusion plays in promoting consumption, in promoting growth and all of that, you will not situate a tax along that path,” he said.