The Electronic Levy (E-levy) has been passed by parliament and will take effect from 1st May, 2022. Despite the passage of e-levy, the minority in Ghana’s parliament are set to challenge it, at the supreme court. According to them the passage of e-levy is illegal because parliament lacked the required numbers to do so.
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What Is E-Levy In Ghana?
The E-Levy is a Levy on all electronic transfers of money apart from those excluded by law. The rate is 1.5%.
What Is E-levy In Ghana Budget?
On November 17, 2021, the Minister for Finance announced during the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government to Parliament the introduction of the E-Levy to be charged at 1.75 per cent on electronic transactions above GH¢100 (US$16) per day.
According to the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, Ghanaians are to start paying e-levy in May and these are some of the Ways To Avoid Paying E-levy And Double Charges On MoMo Transactions.
How To Avoid E-Levy Charges On Mobile Money Transfers
Transfer between accounts owned by the same person: If you are sending money to your own account, you will not be charged the E-Levy provided your bank or mobile money accounts are linked with your Ghana Card PIN.
Send only GHS100 a day to your recipient until you have exhausted the total amount you want to send.
If you do not understand this part, what we are trying to let you know is that — you should send a maximum of GHC 100 daily and since the E-Levy Charges will not apply to mobile money transfers of less than GHC 100 made by one person per day, it is advisable for people who don’t want to be deducted to send a maximum of GHC 100 to your receiver every day until the entire amount you intend to send is depleted.
Example, if you wish to pay GHS 500 to a friend or loved one in a week, you can start by sending GHS 100 every day until that person receives the GHS 500 total amount via Mobile Money.
You can also use Use Cash Transactions to avoid e-levy charges in Ghana, instead of using Mobile Money Transfers, use cash in your transactions more often.
Make Cheque Payments to avoid the E-levy charges in Ghana today. You can make payments By Cheque as well for people who want to avoid the e-levy Charges.
Check the complete steps you are to follow and avoid the e-levy charges in Ghana for today.
- Sending money that is above the GHS 100.00 within 24 hours threshold, will be required that you start early enough by sending only GHC100 daily till it reaches the amount you want. Despite that, you can also follow these below;
- Buy and register a new SIM Card. You can choose to buy a new SIM Card with a number of the same network you are already using or another network.
- Now, you should register a Mobile Money account on that number in your name as already exists on the account you already have.
- Give that new SIM Card to any person you would like to be sending money to — constantly
- Giving the new SIM to the loved one, anytime you want to send money to your loved ones or transact business with these people, send it through that number to avoid the charges.
The implementation of the e-levy will double our mobile money charges in Ghana, and sending a huge sum of amount up to GHS 1000 will make your mobile network charge your Mobile Money wallet 1% amounting to GHS 10.00 and the government of Ghana will also impose a 1.5% e-levy charge on the same amount of money you sent which will be GHS 15.00.
In total, if you want to transfer an amount worth GHS 1000 via Mobile money, you will pay GHS 25 for both your telco and the government of Ghana e-levy charges.
Now, we know the best way to avoid payment of the E-levy charges on our mobile money accounts. Let us get to know how to avoid the double charges and what a user receiving the money has to do.
How To Avoid Double Charges On Mobile Money Transfers
At Latest Ghana, we shall educate you more about how to avoid the double charges on Mobile Money transfers in Ghana — due to telco charges and the government of Ghana e-levy charges.
Since the e-levy charges will affect the withdrawal transactions in Ghana and led some panic withdrawals by mobile money customers, you have to do the following to avoid the double charges on Mobile Money wallet.
- Ask the receiver to go a Mobile Money (MoMo) agent, to mention your number to the agent. With this, the receiver will not mention his or her number — but rather yours.
- Now, allow cash-out on your phone, give your ID Card number to the receiver and he or she will mention it to the MoMo agent.
- Approve the cash-out transaction at your end from the pops up message once the mobile money agent concludes the withdrawal process.
The Mobile Money agent will now hand the money to that your loved one, without you sending him or her money that will include electronic levy charges.
Doing this simple guide will help you avoid paying GHS 25 as an additional charge if you are sending GHS 1000.
Video Guide On How To Avoid E-Levy Charges In Ghana
Per information sighted on many electronic news and websites in Ghana, many Ghanaians are asking so many questions and we would love to answer all these in a question and answer format for you below.
Frequently Asked Questions About E-Levy Charges In Ghana
On November 17, 2021, the Minister for Finance announced during the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government to Parliament the introduction of the E-Levy to be charged at 1.75 per cent on electronic transactions above GH¢100 (US$16) per day.
An e-levy adding 1.5% tax on all electronic and merchant payments, bank transfers and inward remittances of more than 100 cedis (£10) passed in Ghana’s parliament on 29 March, and will come into effect in May.
Initial reactions after the announcement of the e-levy led to some panic withdrawals by mobile money customers, an indication that the e-levy can cause a reduction in the values and volumes of transactions resulting in an increase in the use of cash.
The e-levy will also apply to bank transfers and remittances as well as mobile money transactions. Critics of the law say it will hit low-income workers and small businesses the hardest, as they rely heavily on mobile money transactions.