Bawumia speaks: “E-levy, betting tax, emissions levy will be abolished under my administration”

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has pledged to remove several “controversial” taxes and levies if he is elected president.

Delivering his policy agenda dubbed “Ghana’s Next Chapter: Selfless Leadership and Bold Solutions for the Future” on Wednesday, Dr. said that his proposed fiscal programmes, which include broadening the tax base and ensuring tax compliance, among others, would ensure that taxes such as the e-levy, betting tax, and the newly introduced emissions levy are cancelled.

“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 different from the situation we faced in 2020 and 2022”

“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.”

Dr. Bawumia also stressed the importance of removing taxes in order to promote the use of digital means of payment under the cash-lite agenda.

“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.

Analysts have described the e-levy that was introduced in March 2022 to shore up government revenues during the liquidity crisis as a nuisance and one that would be counterproductive to the government’s financial inclusion strategies.

Similarly, the 10% betting tax and the recently implemented emissions levy have faced wide public disapproval.