The Minority in Parliament has cautioned the Finance Minister against misleading the public in government's quest to get approval for the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy).

The NDC MPs said, the claims by Ken Ofori-Atta that the only way government can release adequate funds for the district assemblies, is through the passage of the e-levy, are untrue.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, stated that the District Assembly Common Fund has been in arrears from 2018 to 2021, and it is nothing new to use to throw dust into the public's eyes.

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, while addressing the audience at a town hall meeting in the Upper West Region, stated that the implementation of the E-levy policy will go a long way to enable government to discharge its duty of raising funds to support district assemblies across the country.

He added that the Finance Minister “is in arrears of over ¢2,133,000 yet he has been collecting revenue and just a dedicated 5% of revenue as required of him by the 1992 Constitution; he has not made it available.”

Addressing the media on Wednesday, the Tamale South MP asked Ghanaians to dismiss the claim and accused the Minister of being insincere with Ghanaians.

He noted that the Finance Minister “is not upholding the values of the provisions of Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, which requires that 5% of total revenue is dedicated to the District Assembly Common Fund.”

According to him, the inability of the Finance Minister to provide funds and basic resources for the running of the District Assemblies has led to the collapse of many Regional Coordinating Council and District Assemblies across the country.

He further stated that Mr Ofori-Atta "should stop misleading the Ghanaian public using District Assembly Common Fund as justification to impose e-levy.”

About E-levy

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, presenting the 2022 budget on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, announced that the government intends to introduce an Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy).

The levy, he revealed, is being introduced to “widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector”. This followed a previous announcement that the government intends to halt the collection of road tolls.

The proposed levy, which was expected to come into effect in January 2022, charges 1.75% on the value of electronic transactions. It covers mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances. There is an exemption for transactions up to GH¢100 per day.

Explaining the government’s decision, the Finance Minister revealed that the total digital transactions for 2020 were estimated to be over GH¢500 billion (about $81 billion) compared to GH¢78 billion ($12.5 billion) in 2016.

Thus, the need to widen the tax net to include the informal sector.

Although the government has argued that it is an innovative way to generate revenue, scores of citizens and stakeholders expressed varied sentiments on its appropriateness, with many standing firmly against it.

Even though others have argued in support of the levy, a section of the populace believe that the 1.75% e-levy is an insensitive tax policy that will deepen the already prevailing hardship in the country.