Economist, Dr. Patrick Asuming, says he will be surprised if government withdraws the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) within the shortest possible time, despite the challenges and perception from consumers.

According to him, though government has scrapped such indirect taxes such as the luxury vehicle tax in the past, its unlikely do so this time around, given the current economic challenges facing the country.

“I’ll be surprise if the tax is withdrawn even though we’ve seen this government bring in a tax like the luxury vehicle tax and then scrap it altogether. I’ll be surprise given our current circumstances and then how much government needs revenue and the fact that we haven’t made too much progress with the other revenue streams”, he told Joy Business.

“So I’m not expecting that over the next year or so the government will be happy to scrap the tax. What they may do is make tweak here and there, so that if there are specific areas that have challenges they [government] will address them”, he added.

“In the immediate term, I don’t expect the government to scrap this particular tax, however unpopular it is”, he emphasised.

Dr. Asuming, who is with the University of Ghana Business School, urged government to step up its game in revenue management to mobilise more money.

“I think where else the government needs to be raising revenue is very clear. It was in the 2022 Budget and when the Finance Minister [Ken Ofori-Atta] spoke about the updated measures, he also mentioned them. He told us that by this time around, he will have started reforming the property tax system. If we do that and do it properly we will be able to raise more revenue”.

“And then the big one is the exemptions and the Finance Minister is imploring Parliament to pass the Exemptions Bill. If they manage to pass the Exemptions Bill and they’ve address the major loopholes that the exemptions is causing us, then we’ll be able to raise more revenue”, he added.