The Government of Ghana has passed the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Act, which imposes a levy of 1.50% on electronic transfers at the time of transfer. This initiative by the Government is meant to broaden the tax base in the country and generate revenue.
The new law provides that the E-Levy does not apply to:
· a cumulative transfer of GHS 100 per day made by the same person;
· a transfer between accounts owned by the same person;
· a transfer for the payment of taxes, fees and charges on the Ghana.Gov system or any other Government of Ghana designated payment system;
· specified merchant payments;
· transfers between principal, agent, and master-agent accounts; and
· electronic clearing of cheques.
On the other hand, the E-Levy does apply to:
· mobile money transfers done between accounts on the same electronic money issuer;
· mobile money transfers from an account on one electronic money issuer to a recipient on another electronic money issuer;
· transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts; transfers from mobile money accounts to bank accounts; and
· bank transfers on an instant pay digital platform or application originating from a bank account belonging to an individual subject to a threshold to be determined by the Minister of Finance.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (“GRA”) is responsible for collecting the E-Levy, proceeds from which will be paid into the Consolidated Fund by the GRA’s Commissioner-General. The GRA will also be responsible for submitting quarterly reports on the performance of the E-Levy to the Minister of Finance.
The Minister of Finance will, in turn, report on the funds to Parliament during the mid-year review of the national budget and two (2) months after the end of the financial year.
The E-Levy, which was initially proposed at a rate of 1.75%, has now been revised downward to 1.50%. The implementation date of 1 May 2022, is also later than planned due to parliamentary approval delays. Accordingly, the Government has revised its projected revenue from GH¢6.9 billion to GH¢4.5 billion for 2022.
