The Vice President of Ghana and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, promised to cancel the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy), Betting Tax, and the Emission Levy, taxes being implemented by his government if he is elected president in the upcoming general elections.

Dr Bawumia made this promise when he addressed Ghanaians on his vision for the country, as president on February 7, 2024, at the University of Professional Studies, Auditorium, (UPSA) auditorium.

“Taxes on gambling will be scrapped under my administration. There will be no emissions tax under my administration. 15% tax on electricity will be abolished by 2025 if it’s still on our administration,” he said.

Many supporters of the vice president before his announcement had stated that he was against the implementation of these taxes and objected to them when they were being discussed at Cabinet.

During his address, however, the vice president did not give an indication of his opposition to the taxes when they were about to be implemented.

He gave a number of reasons why they would not be needed, including his assertion that the policies he would be implementing as president would make it needless for the taxes to be collected.

He also said that the rebound of Ghana’s economy due to the policies the government is implementing currently makes way for it to stop taking the taxes in question in 2025.

“With cuts in government expenditure, the private sector undertaking expenditure that would normally be done by government and the new tax regime that will enhance compliance, broaden the tax base, and increase tax revenue, the situation we are going to face in 2025 is going to be very 48 different from the situation we faced in 2020 and 2022. With the policy measures implemented thus far, we have outperformed the IMF fiscal deficit target of 5% of GDP by attaining a fiscal deficit of 4.2% in 2023.

“The new policies that I am proposing to implement in 2025 will give us the fiscal space to eliminate some taxes such as the VAT on electricity, the emissions tax and the betting tax without compromising our deficit target,” he said.

On the E-Levy specifically, Dr Bawumia indicated that the tax hinders the government’s goal of running a cashless economy.

“To move towards a cashless economy, however, we have to encourage the population to use electronic channels of payment. To accomplish this, there will be no taxes on digital payments under my administration. The e-levy will therefore be abolished.

BAI/OGB

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