Infrastructure to be used for E-Levy collection hasn't been tested – Sam George
E-Levy to be implemented starting May 1, 2022 – GRA
Ningo-Prampram MP, Sam Nartey George, has indicated that the government is not ready to implement the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) by the May 1, 2022 deadline.
According to the MP (Member of Parliament), the necessary infrastructure needed for the successful implementation of the E-Levy has not been put in place by the government.
In a tweet on April 21, 2022, Sam George said that "the architecture for the system is still not complete and has not been given to the industry players (MNOS and EMIS) less than ten days to start of [the] project. No stress test has been carried out on the intended system to ascertain (the) robustness of the infrastructure to be used.
The MP, who is a member of parliament's select committee on communication, said his stance on the lack of preparation for implementing the E-Levy would be vindicated if the government starts collecting on the set deadline.
"For those who claim that I have no basis technically for my claims, the joke is on you. In 10 days, we would witness the catastrophe of an abysmal implementation," he said.
"Even the sponsors of this system admit that there would be significant downtime and have asked that as a contingency, all transactions should be charged the 1.5% and reversals done subsequently," he added.
He further stated that with just ten days left to the May 1 deadline, Electronic Money Issuers (EMIS) has not received the technology needed to reverse wrong charges when the implementation starts.
The E-Levy Bill, after parliament passed it on March 29, was assented by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo into law just a few days later, despite a suit by three MPs of the minority caucus in parliament challenging its passage.
Ghana Revenue Authority has indicated that it has put in place all the necessary measures, including the system needed to collect the levy. It was cooperating with electronic money issuers and other stakeholders to ensure that the levy collection starts May 1, 2022.
Read the tweet of the MP below:
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Ningo-Prampram MP, Samuel Nartey George