According to the President, the move is government’s way of reducing cost and cutting down expenditure due to the general economic difficulties.

Speaking at the 2022 National Labour Conference at Kwahu in the Eastern Region, President Akufo-Addo said “we have to make concerted efforts as partners to hasten our recovery from COVID-19 by finding intelligent ways of bringing everyone on board to contribute their quota no matter what.”

“Government on its part is implementing a policy of cutting the budgets of Ministries,  Departments and Agencies by 20% this year as its contribution.”

Nana Akufo-Addo also bemoaned that the percentage of Ghanaians paying direct taxes is woefully inadequate and efforts must be made to bridge the gap through the E-levy.

“We cannot continue to allow less than 10%, specifically 7.8%, that is, 2.4 million people of the population to carry the direct tax burden of 30.8 million people. We must provide an opportunity for every Ghanaian to contribute towards nation building.”

He said the E-levy will provide the opportunity for every Ghanaian to contribute towards nation building, stressing that Ghanaians must accept the implications of Ghana beyond aid.

The government has introduced the E-levy, as a new tax measure on basic transactions related to digital payments and electronic platform transactions, suggesting that the e-levy is the cure to Ghana’s economic challenges.

A charge of 1.75% will apply to electronic transactions that are more than GH¢100 on a daily basis.

The approval of the e-levy by Parliament has been fraught with many challenges with the minority kicking against it, with some saying the government has o moral right to call for the tax.