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Ghana’s 8th parliament is expected to commence its first sitting in 2022 on Tuesday, January 25, after the house took a break from parliamentary duties for the Yuletide.
An earlier statement from the Speaker of Parliament’s office had indicated that “It is also important to bring to your attention that the House will resume its sittings for the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Eighth Parliament on Tuesday, 25th January, 2022.”
As part of the issues to be discussed by the house, the contentious e-levy would be amongst parliament’s priorities.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, has called on both sides of the house to focus on reaching a consensus to make discussions fruitful.
Parliament has been divided whenever the proposed 1.75% e-levy is mentioned which resulted in fisticuffs on the floor of parliament last year.
The minority caucus led by its leader Haruna Iddrissu believes the Electronic Transaction Levy is a disincentive to Ghanaians who are already burdened with many taxes and has the potential to negatively impact Ghana’s growth in the digital space.
Many Ghanaians have also spoken against the introduction of the levy while tax experts are calling for more sustainable ways of widening the tax net and preventing leakages in the tax collection system.
However, the Majority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, believes that the e-levy has already been technically approved since it forms part of the 2022 ‘Agyenkwa’ Budget as well as the Appropriation Bill; both of which have been approved by parliament.
