By, Savannah Pokuaah Duah
The CEO of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mark Boadu Aboagye, has added his voice to the call for the e-levy to be scrapped.
Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show with Thelma Tackie on January 21, 2025, Mr. Aboagye outlined his expectations for the John Mahama administration, focusing on revenue generation and the impact of the e-levy.
Mr. Aboagye began by highlighting the need for a smarter approach to revenue generation, “we are going to talk about how to generate revenue from taxes and what kind of nuisance these taxes are,” he stated.
He then expressed his approval of the Finance Minister’s stated intention to abolish the e-levy. “I’m happy that at the vetting of the finance minister, he was very emphatic that he was going to scrap the e-levy,” he added.
The GNCCI CEO did not mince words in his assessment of the e-levy. “The e-levy has, I mean, has nothing good to offer Ghanaians, they are only just a nuisance tax, and I don’t think that scrapping it will have any significant impact on our revenue generation,” he stated, arguing that the tax is both ineffective and burdensome.
Mr. Aboagye further explained his objection by stating that “There are better ways of generating revenue from taxes than putting a tax that you cannot describe what kind of taxes.” He stated that, “As the minister said, a tax should be either direct, indirect or SSI, e-levy is none of them. It’s just taking money from people.”
He then illustrated the compounding effect of the e-levy, “You take your salary, they take a tax from it. You are transferring something to your mother to buy medicine, they take tax from it. Your mother buys the medicine, and then they take tax again. And then the owner of the pharmacy is also buying from a wholesaler, paying with maybe momo and they are taking tax again. So just one revenue that you have earned, look at how much has been taken out of it,” he asserted.
Aboagye concluded by calling for more intelligent tax policies that do not place undue burdens on citizens while also effectively generating revenue for the nation. His remarks underscored a need for a more transparent and efficient tax system.
