If elected to office, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has promised to remove the contentious electronic transaction tax, or "E-Levy."
The presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party stated in an address to Ghanaians on Wednesday that he wants to quickly transition Ghana to a cashless economy in order to combat corruption and promote economic progress.
But in order to accomplish this, he said, more individuals must be persuaded to use electronic payment methods.
"Under my administration, there would be no taxes on digital payments in order to achieve this. Therefore, the e-levy will be eliminated," declared Dr. Bawumia.
A 1.5% charge is applied on e-transactions as of Sunday, May 1, 2022, as part of the e-levy. It includes bank transfers, merchant payments, mobile money payments, and inward remittances. For transactions up to GH¢100 each day, there is an exception.
The government said that the levy was a component of its attempts to increase tax collection and broaden the tax base for growth.
Dr. Bawumia, however, emphasized the significance of Ghana's shift to a cashless society and mentioned transparency as a potent weapon against corruption.
He emphasized the advantages of cashless communities, pointing out that more electronic payments result in improved traceability and decreased corruption.
"I want to get Ghana as close to a cashless economy as I can in the least amount of time." The Bank of Ghana has implemented many of the necessary processes and infrastructure, thus far making significant strides in this regard.
These consist of the following: the capacity to use mobile money and merchant services; the Universal QRCode payment system; Gh-Link; debit cards; Ezwich; and GhanaPay."
"We have established the required infrastructure to enable Ghana to become a cashless society. A digitized version of the Ghana cedi note in Sefwi Wiawso has recently concluded its test program, according to the Bank of Ghana.
This is referred to as e-cedi, or central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Bank of Ghana plans to introduce the e-CEdi eventually. It is intended to function both online and offline."
"The e-cedi, with the right privacy safeguards in place, will, in my humble opinion, be the most effective tool in the fight against corruption.
It will increase transparency, lower the possibility of fraud, robbery, tax evasion, and money laundering, and make it simple to track the flow of funds and spot questionable activity. The introduction of the e-cedi will accelerate Ghana's transition to a nearly cashless society.