MoMo tax not compulsory, don’t use MoMO if you can’t pay – Carlos Ahenkorah

The Member of Parliament for Tema West and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah has backed government’s decision to impose the 1.75 per cent e-levy on Ghanaians.

He explained that the e-levy is necessary to ensure that government does not resort to borrowing as a way of growing and running the economy.

The Minister of Finance announced the government’s plan to introduce an e-levy pegged at 1.75 per cent on all electronic transactions.

This has however been met with stiff opposition from various groups including the Minority caucus in Parliament who argue that the levy will stifle the growth of digital payments in the country.

However, Hon. Ahenkorah has noted that the levy is not compulsory for all Ghanaians, given that persons who refrain from such electronic transactions will not have to pay.

He told Accra-based Citi News that “I have always been saying that the momo tax is not a compulsory tax. You only pay when you use it. When you don’t use it, you don’t pay. If you think it is expensive, there is no other procedure for making payments that will be equal to MoMo. So what we are saying is that the tax is targeted at those who have the ability to pay not those who are receiving.”

“So if you are receiving it is okay to go and negotiate with the person who has gone to the bank to borrow money to be a MoMo agent to pay money out. Otherwise, keep the money on your phone, and you don’t owe anyone any money.”

The Minority caucus in Parliament has however insisted that it did not reach any consensus with the government in the engagements on the budget.