A senior lecturer at UPSA Law School and member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communication team, Ishaq Ibrahim Esq., has described the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) introduced by the previous Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government as an unpopular decision.
According to him, the levy was not even supported by some members within the party.
The comment comes after the Ghana Revenue Authority announced the abolition of the controversial 1% Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), effective midnight, April 2, 2025.
The abolition follows the President’s assent to the Electronic Transfer Levy Act, 2022 (Act 1075) and its Amendment Act, 2022 (Act 1089).
Financial institutions and payment platforms have been instructed to cease applying the levy and process refunds for any deductions made beyond the abolition date. Entities that fail to comply will face sanctions.
During a panel discussion on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Ibrahim Esq. noted that the E-Levy was introduced due to difficult economic circumstances.
However, he acknowledged that, in hindsight, it was a wrong decision.
While welcoming the repeal, the NPP communicator stressed that this change should not be credited to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said, “E-levy was an unpopular task, even within the NPP. There was no need for this task because production had not been taken place. It’s when production takes place that you can say that let me also have a share of it as a legitimate government. But having said that Ghanaians will understand that we were in a difficult situation and when you are in a difficult situation, sometimes you take measures that after second look, you realise that it was a wrong decision. It was this reason why when the former Vice President had the opportunity to become the flagbearer, he said the first thing he will do was to remove this particular task……Whilst we welcome it, this is not a change that we have to congratulate the NDC for……..”
