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Ghana’s Agric Minister wants farmers to embrace the government’s proposed electronic levy (E-levy), which seeks to widen the country’s tax net as proposed by the Minister of Finance in the 2022 budget and policy statement.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who once served as MP for Kwadaso under the New Patriotic Party also took on the opposition MPs in parliament describing its entrenched position on the controversial levy as worrying.
He argued that the Akufo-Addo administration has rolled out several programmes for farmers and that the introduction of the E-levy will help raise money to support them with several interventions.
The Minister who was quoted by Citi News said: “There are two markets in Ghana; the subsidized fertilizer market, which is the planting for foods and jobs, and the commercial or open market for anyone who wants to buy. These two markets have existed side by side, but because the subsidized fertilizer market was so big, there was very little for the open market. Now with the price increases on the open market, we are also facing problems with revenue collection in Ghana and everywhere else because international trades have also shrunk”.
“We get most of our government revenue from international trade – imports and exports. That is why it’s become necessary for this government to look for alternative sources of revenue to close the gap, hence the introduction of the electronic levy. The opposition (NDC) is making the electronic levy a big issue. What they don’t realize is that it’s affecting other areas. So if we are to remove the levy, where are we going to find the money to give subsidies to farmers? There would be nothing,” he said.
E-levy not compulsory
Dr. Afriyie made these remarks when he visited one of the government’s built warehouses at Gambaga in the North East Region on his first-day visit to the region as part of his 13-day tour of the northern sector.
The imposition of the e-levy has been one of the contentious issues in the 2022 budget statement.
Many Ghanaians have called on the government to reconsider such a move. They argue the levy is punitive. But the government machinery have mounted a strong defense.
NPP MP for Tema West Carlos Ahenkorah said: “I have always been saying that the momo tax is not a compulsory tax. You only pay when you use it, when you don’t use it, you don’t pay. If you think it is expensive, there is no other procedure for making payments that will be equal to MoMo. So what we are saying is that the tax is targeted at those who have the ability to pay not those who are receiving.”
“So if you are receiving it is okay to go and negotiate with the person who has gone to the bank to borrow money to be a MoMo agent to pay money out. Otherwise, keep the money on your phone, and you don’t owe anyone any money”, he added.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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