Students at the University of Ghana have expressed their excitement on the decision of the incoming government to remove E-levy and betting tax believed to be a ‘nuisance’.
Some students have ranked the E-levy and betting tax as the top issues they expect President-elect, John Mahama to tackle once he is sworn in as president on 7 January 2024.
According to these students, these taxes have become major causes of the economic problems that the youth are currently facing. The electronic transaction e-levy was instituted in 2022 to charge 1% levy on transactions above 100cedis.
The betting tax is also 10% tax applied to all bet winnings, a tax policy that have been vehemently opposed by Ghanaians, especially the youth.
The President-elect John Dramani Mahama pledged to scrap certain taxes including E-levy and betting tax which he considers nuisance.
Students at the University of Ghana Speaking to Univers Business expressed their joy and approval for this decision. They believe that removing these taxes will encourage the youth to work harder.
“Speaking as a youth, I think it will help us a lot, because the youth actually, betting is only an option now, so I think it will help us a lot. When the youth, we stake bets, we are expecting a great income. Actually, the betting tax is being used by the government to extort our money so I believe when they abolish it, we the youth can have our own money”
“I think it’s good if he abolishes it, because people like the youth, for instance, a lot of them don’t have jobs, and betting is like a way that they get something small without going to rob others and do other illegal things. They are taking 10% of it, it’s actually not helping them, so I think it will be good if the president-elect to abolishes it, and the e-levy too, it’s not really helping, because you send money and then they will deduct money from it again. And you don’t really know what they are really using their money for in the end, so I think if he abolishes it, it will be okay.”
“I was just going to say, the e-levy and the bet tax was implemented not too long ago. I don’t know, last year or last two years we were living without all of that, and Ghana was fine so we don’t really need it like that, they should abolish it. I think it’s a good initiative; I would like to start with the
“They encouraged us to use the mobile money instead of using fiscal cash, so why do they have to charge us for using the electronic transaction mode? But that’s my take on e-levy. Another levy that the government has brought is emissions levy. We know pollution has been something that has been with us for a long period of time, so I don’t see the essence of charging citizens of emissions levy, rather they should provide solutions to how we should reduce pollution in the environment. For the betting also, I’m sure the government is charging the betting companies that is all over the country, so I don’t see why we need to tax winnings of citizens that bet. All these taxes should be scrapped off by the incoming government, and it would help to alleviate the poverty that this current government has constrained on the Ghanaian people.”
Story by: Sarah Esinam Atiemo | univers.ug.edu.gh
