Ghana is a country that is undertaxed; that’s why E-Levy is important – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has given justification to why his government has decided to implement the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) despite the opposition from Ghanaians.

Speaking to BBC’s Peter Okwoche in an interview on Monday, April 4, 2022, the President argued that it is important to bring more people into the tax net.

He said Ghana is a country that has been undertaxed for a long time, insisting that the time is right for the government to tax the digital economy which has emerged as the biggest economy in the country.

“The digital economy, the mobile economy is emerging as the biggest economy in the country and for a long period has not had any taxation at all. So it is important now that they also come into the net,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.

The Ghana President continued, “Our country has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratios of any country in West Africa and of an equivalent economy. In the ECOWAS area, the general average today, tax to GDP average is about 18%.

“Ghana we are 13%. So if you are talking about a country which is already overtaxed, if for anything at all it is undertaxed.”

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has refuted claims that Ghana’s economy is doing terribly when compared to other economies of the world.

According to him, no country has been spared by the ravages of the Coronavirus pandemic and it will be inaccurate to single out Ghana’s economy as performing terribly.

President Akufo-Addo told BBC his government has put in place credible measures that will revive Ghana’s economy and make it stronger again.