Wa West MP Peter Toobu has described the introduction of the 1.75 per cent Electronic Transactions Levy by the government in the 2022 budget statement as an act of pair trawling targeted at “sweeping everything from the sea.”

Mr Toobu the e-levy had the tendency to kill the digitalisation drive being championed by Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia.

He maintained that this levy is a disservice to the country’s ambitions of achieving a cash-lite economy.

Also, he said it will derail efforts by the police to fight armed robberies.

“The e-levy will make the activities of armed robberies boom, as many people will be keeping their money at home if the levy is operationalised,” the opposition MP explained, noting that people will now opt for carrying physical cash on them instead of keeping it in their digital wallets.

“The e-levy will not motivate people to use the various digital platforms being introduced by the telecommunication companies in the country,” he stressed.

“Already, Ghanaians are overtaxed and a further introduction of indirect taxes such as the e-levy is like going fishing with a pair of trawlers”, he likened.

“The levy is a pair-trawling exercise targeted at catching everything in the sea,” he emphasised. 

He stressed that the levy will not serve the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian hence the minority’s decision not to support it.