Electronic Levy On Mobile Money Transactions Passed Into Law In Ghana

For close to a year, the issue of electronic transaction levy as being topical in almost every discussion in Ghana.

The controversial e-levy was passed by Parliament on Tuesday, March 29th, 2022.

The President of Ghana has assented to the bill into law for full implementation from May 1st, 2022.

I have detailed the e-levy charges and the transactions it effect as below;

What is Electronic Levy (e-levy) in Ghana?

Electronic Levy is an electronic transaction levy on mobile money transfers made on electronic and digital

platforms in Ghana.

It was introduced by the government and passed by parliament as a tax on all mobile money transactions.

It is said that, the intent is to widen the tax net whiles raising revenue to mitigate the weakening economic situation of the country.

The E-levy taxes will be collected by the Ghana Revenue Authority, who is yet to possibly give out a statement on the procedure/method of collection.

Which areas will the electronic levy affect the taxpayer?

The E-levy will affect five principal mobile money transactions as below;

Mobile money transfers, bank to bank transfers, bank to mobile money transfers and online payment transactions with payment platforms such as Visa Card, Master Card, PayPal and the likes.

What are the E-levy charges?

The e-levy charges are as follows;

• 1.5% tax will be debited from Mobile money transfers between accounts on the same electronic money issuer

• 1.5% tax will be debited from Mobile money transfers from one account to a recipient on another account

• 1.5% tax will be debited from Money Transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts

• 1.5% tax will be debited from Money Transfers from mobile money accounts to bank accounts

• 1.5% tax will be debited from Bank transfers on a digital platform or application linked to a bank account belonging to an individual to another individual

Electronic transactions exempted from E-levy

The following transactions are exempted from e-levy taxes;

• No charges on transactions below GH¢100 per day made by the same person.

• No charges on transfers between electronic accounts owned by the one person.

• No charges on transfers for the payment of taxes, fees, and charges on the Ghana.gov platform.

• No charges on electronic clearing of bank cheques.

• No charges on merchant payments to commercial establishments registered with the GRA for income tax and VAT purposes

• No charges on Transfers between principal, master and agent’s electronic mobile accounts.

How to avoid paying E-levy

A lot of Ghanaians are finding ways to avoid the electronic levy even before it commences on May 1, 2022.

It is not a crime to find legit ways to lower your fees associated with electronic transactions. Here are some of the ways to do that;

Often make payments with bank cheques. Cheque transactions are not affect by the 1.5% e-levy charges.

• You can avoid e-levy charges by using cash transactions instead of mobile money transfers.

• Send only GH¢100 a day to your recipient until you have exhausted the total amount you want to send.

For instance, if you want to send GH¢300 a month to a relative, you can avoid the e-levy tax by sending GH¢100 per day for 3 days until all the GH¢300 is sent.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any other information, please leave it in the comment section.