Member of Parliament for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro, Sylvester Matthew Tetteh, has revealed that the panic reactions and withdrawals of mobile money that is accompanying the passage of the e-levy is to be expected.
Mr Tetteh noted that people are naturally averse to the prospects of having to pay any form of taxes in any country. However, he posited that in spite of the growing withdrawals in the public space, people will overtime get used to paying the e-levy for convenience sake.
“Panic reaction is expected in institutions like this especially when taxation is [involved] and obviously people will lose monies. When petrol prices are announced, people tend to buy enough fuel to fill their tanks before the new prices are announced. I’m not surprised and all these things have been figured out. But you see, for how long can you stay away from mobile money transactions? It is not sustainable”.
Sylvester Matthew Tetteh
Mr Tetteh underscored that due to this panic withdrawals by mobile money customers, government may not likely hit its revenue target. Describing the projections as “conservative”, he explained that bearing in mind all the factors which may likely surface following the e-levy passage, “you are not expecting to rake in at the highest point when you start”. This, he iterated, is due to “panic reaction” such as the one dominating the momo transaction scene as nobody “likes to pay taxes”.
“… And obviously, when taxes are announced, people take precautionary measures until they settle. So, we know of all these things. Definitely, nobody should tell me mobile money will be at its best when this thing takes off and especially when you have a one month period for people to take a decision”.
Sylvester Matthew Tetteh
Nonetheless, the Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro legislator opined that the convenience of mobile money transactions will make it difficult for people to “run away” from it. Mr Tetteh expressed that parliamentarians are also not exempted from the brunt of paying the tax which accompanies these momo transactions.
“But for me, where I sit… the number of times we [MPs] do momo, it’s going to affect us. But the convenience of using momo cannot be overridden by the cost of tax you are going to pay. So, naturally, we expect this momo tax to bring it [transactions] a bit lower because we are talking about 1 trillion transaction annually. So, what we are recording today, obviously is the convenience of it that people will be paying for, and for that reason, I know the first three month of it, I expect these numbers to come down”.
Sylvester Matthew Tetteh
Educating the public on momo charges
Mr Tetteh revealed that another reason which accounts for panic withdrawals can be attributed to the lack of education on deductions to be made on these momo transactions. A lot of people, he noted, are not getting the “calculations” right as what “people are doing is way above what people” will be paying.
For that reason, Mr Tetteh emphasized government’s resolve to ensure proper education within the one month period it’s undertaken. He however, expressed that the education on transaction will be “continuous” even after the month duration expires.
“They are rolling out the education pretty soon and we are going to engage them. The communications committee is going to engage them to ensure that they educate the populace very well. I think if you look at the bill, they made it clear that they are going to roll out public education. So, we understand it, that with the first three months or so, the numbers will come down. Look, revenue target could either be met or reduced. So, we expect all these things”.
Sylvester Matthew Tetteh
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