The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) says the Electronic Transaction Levy introduced by the government in the 2022 budget risks distracting fintech businesses
The levy is a 1.75 per cent rate applicable on all electronic transactions apart from those that add up to GH¢100 or less per day or a total of GHS3000 per month.
Director Executive of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson believes fintechs will take a big hit from the move by the government as it will discourage a lot of people from using e-transactions.
“Just last year alone, the government gave about 20 startup fintech companies license. Companies, like Zeepay, Express Pay and all those companies. These are companies that rely on electronic transactions. In less than a year even before they get to solidify their business, we introduced a killer tax that is going to move traffic away from online transactions and will automatically dampen their business.”
He added that “When you go to the mobile market, mobile money employ at least 150,000 merchants and agents across the country. Traffic is automatically going to move from online to cash again and these people are going to lose their jobs.”
Electronic transactions in Ghana have seen major growth over the years with the total value of transactions for 2020 estimated to be over GH¢500 billion almost double the figure for the previous year.
There has been public disapproval with the levy proposed by the government with arguments that it could setback the gains made with the cash-lite agenda.
However, some, like the Institute of Economic Affairs has called for its reduction to 0.5 per cent.