Director for Elections and Research for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Evans Nimako, has intimated that the filing of an injunction by the minority against the controversial e-levy will not succeed.
Mr Nimako revealed that the growth of the country is hinged on taxes of such nature despite the stiff opposition by the minority on government taxing mobile money to generate revenue. He indicated that the minority has chosen to ran “helter skelter” and indulge in engagement with a section of its support base not to accept the e-levy as a means to internally mobilize resources. That notwithstanding, he noted that the decision to file an injuction will yield no results.
“I will advise that though they filed the application, the application, by my prayers will not succeed. Ghana will have to develop; it will need all of us to come on board to contribute our quota to ensure that we get out of our difficulty.”
Evans Nimako
In spite of the stark opposition from the minority, the NPP Director for Elections and Research explained that government, on its part, has a different appreciation of the matter as it intends not to always “go cap in hand” for loans. He described the move as a “necessary evil” for government to rake in more revenue to run the country.
“We must embrace it and I can appreciate [that] nobody appreciates paying taxes… It’s not everybody who will be mandated to pay e-levy. It’s for those who access the platform and if you do so, you have to contribute a quota, a small percentage to [the] development of Ghana. I don’t think it is out of place. For us, we must embrace it; for the NDC, I’m not surprised.”
Evans Nimako
GRA cannot commence e-levy deduction on May 1
Meanwhile, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has disclosed that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) cannot start the e-levy deductions on the 1st of May following the injunction application filed by the Minority at the Supreme Court.
“The parties have been duly served and so what that means is that until that application is moved and determined, the Ghana Revenue Authority cannot begin the implementation of the e-levy on the 1st of May.”
Sammy Gyamfi
Prior to this, Mr Gyamfi revealed that the party will cancel the E-levy policy if it wins the 2024 general elections. He explained that government’s posture to tax mobile money is unfair and that the tax will only impose hardship on citizens.
It will be recalled that the Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, and two other NDC MPs, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, filed an injunction at the Supreme Court against the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy (e-levy).
Mr Iddrisu, Mahama Ayariga and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa urged the apex court to restrain the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) from implementing the e-levy until the final determination of their suit challenging the constitutionality of its passage by Parliament. The injunction application filed by their lawyer , Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, stated that an appreciable number of Ghanaians will suffer if the E-Levy Act is not put on hold.
Announcing the filing of the injunction on his Facebook page, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, noted that the application was successfully filed.
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