E-levy: Build public confidence that revenue will be used properly – Jantuah tells govt

Energy Expert and a private legal Practitioner, Mr Kwame Jantuah has noted that the government has not built the confidence of Ghanaians in order to believe that the revenue expected to be generated from the e-levy implementation will be used properly.

He says the government will need to work hard to build that trust and confidence in the people.

“I feel sorry for communicators of government,” he said on the New Day show on TV3 with Berla Mundi on Friday April 1, adding that “One thing I thought they will do is to start building confidence in the people of Ghana. Right now, it is like a trophy that they have won because they really haven’t built the confidence.”

President Akufo-Addo on Thursday March 31 assented to the Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy) bill into law on Thursday March 31.

The policy was approved by a one-sided Parliament on Tuesday March 29 after the minority staged a walkout.

The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta  revealed on Wednesday March 30 that deductions will start in May this year.

He said that is the assurance he has been given by the Controller and Accountant General (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), who will be the revenue collectors.

“We had some meetings with Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and they have said right at the beginning of May they should be able to put their system together,” he told TV3’s Roland Walker in Parliament after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo delivered the State of the Nation Address.

The signing comes at a time the Minority has sued the Attorney General at the Supreme Court over the approval of the bill by the House.

The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu described the approval as illegal and unconstitutional because in their view, the Majority did not have the right numbers to pass it.

“This is a charade,” he said at a press conference in Parliament, adding that “there is no E-levy.”

“The majority of less than 137 conducting businesses only proceeded on illegal and unconstitutional business. Parliament did not have the numbers to take any decision that should binding Parliament and Ghanaians,” he added.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana