E-Levy deductions after abolition will be refunded – GRA

The end of the era of the Electronic Transaction Levy, commonly called E-Levy, kicked in fully on Thursday as the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) sanctioned its reversal upon the President’s assent of the Bill that abolished the levy.

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has since reaffirmed that the E-Levy has been officially abolished as of April 2, 2025, and that any deductions made beyond that date would be fully refunded to affected individuals.

It emphasised that from 00:00 hours on April 2, 2025, no-one should be charged the levy, as it had been completely removed from the country’s tax laws.

“We do recognise that there are practical implications in removing the system. However, any person who suffered E-Levy deduction from April 2 onwards will have their money refunded in line with the President’s directive and the law,” the Commissioner General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong,  said yesterday on the sidelines of a two-day GRA management retreat in Akosombo.

Two of the charging entities have since informed their customers of the cesation of the E-Levy charge.

A message from AT Money to customers said E-Levy had been scrapped from April 2, 2025.

“Accordingly, all E-Levy charged from April 2, 2025 onwards will be refunded within 72 hours,” the message said.

For its part, MTN Mobile Money said the one per cent E-Levy had been abolished and no longer applies to “your momo transactions”.

Refund

Mr Sarpong said the GRA had engaged charging entities such as banks and mobile money operators ahead of the levy’s removal to ensure a smooth transition.

He, however, admitted that some systems were still in the process of being updated.

“We had agreed with them that by the morning of April 3, all charging systems should be taken off, but if for any reason someone has suffered the levy within this period, we will reconcile with the charging entities and ensure all affected customers are duly refunded,” he said.

Notice

A notice to all charging entities from the GRA late last Wednesday said the GRA Electronic Transfer Levy Management and Assurance System would automatically return a “no charge” on all transactions posted to it by entities from midnight.

It directed all charging entities to cease applying the one per cent E-Levy from midnight on all channels.

“Charging entities must immediately process refunds for any E-Levy amounts deducted from customers effective today, April 2, 2025. Entities are to establish an expedited refund process to handle such cases promptly and maintain proper documentation of all refunds processed.

Reports of such refunds must be submitted to GRA,” the notice said.

“Charging entities are to take the necessary steps to file and pay all outstanding E-Levy charged and collected on all transactions that occurred before April 2, 2025,” it added.

Betting tax

Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has directed lottery operators to stop deducting the 10 per cent withholding tax on winnings from lottery, effective April 2, 2025.

It said players who were charged withholding tax on their winnings on or after April 2, 2025 were entitled to a refund from the lottery operator.

Patrons, it said, were advised to keep receipts or electronic records of their transactions to facilitate any necessary refund process.

“The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority wishes to inform the general public that the 10 per cent withholding tax on winnings from lottery (including gaming, betting, lotto, and any games of chance) has been abolished effective April 2, 2025,” a notice on withholding tax on winnings from lottery said.

Negative impact

Reacting to the scrapping of the E-Levy, the Chief Executive Director (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, said the repeal of the levy was a step in the right direction.

As a public policy watcher, he said the levy was not a well thought-through policy, and was inimical to the previous government’s digital and financial inclusion strategy.

The E-levy, Dr Ashigbey said, resulted even in some job losses, with some mobile money agents having to close some of their shops, and that it resulted in loss of investment for some of the financial technology institutions (fintechs) as well.

“When it happened, it slowed down the rate of growth of mobile money and we have not been able to recover from that.

Though when the reduction was down from 1.5 per cent to one per cent, we saw some recovery. But not back to the rate at which we were going before then.

“So, the expectation is that now that the E-Levy has been revoked, we should be able to get back to the point of growth, where anybody sending mobile money would not be thinking about the E-Levy anymore,” he said, adding that “the discrimination that existed between mobile money and the banks and all other transactions would have been cured.”

“So when people want to take a decision, they would look at which one is more convenient for them.

If the banks are convenient, they would do the banks.

If the mobile money is convenient, they would do the mobile money,” he said.

That, Dr Ashigbey said, would also mean that customers would have a lot more money in their pockets since the percentage charged on money sent could be used to pay for goods or services.

Moreover, he said, vendors would also get a lot more turnover because “this money that they have to spend would not come to the vendors. Additionally, there would be a lot more transactions.

So the mobile money agents would also get a lot more transactions”.

At the end of the year, he said, the agents could even file their corporate income taxes and pay some taxes to the government, adding that the same way the electronic money issuers (EMIs) increased in volume and value, it would result in more revenues for them, which would result in more profits and that would mean more taxes to the government.

Refund guidelines

Regarding the refunds that should be done from April 2, 2025 per the directive from the GRA, Dr Ashigbey said the chamber was awaiting specific instructions from the GRA on how that should be done.

“If you have seen the directive from the GRA, there is some refund that should be done from April 2, 2025, the day on which the assent and the gazette was done.

“So, for that one, we are waiting for GRA to issue guidelines on how the April 2, 2025 refunds are going to be done,” he said, adding that in the event of any inadvertent wrongful charge that would have happened after the midnight of April 3, 2025, “the EMIs would do the refund themselves.

I’m sure within a week, they would do that refund when it happens.”

Dr Ashigbey said all the five electronic money issuers went live on Wednesday night following the directive from the GRA, and any one that had engaged in transaction on Thursday morning would realise that E-Levy or the tax was zero for the majority of the channels.

He, however, said mobile money used various channels to do those transactions and that there were some third-party channels or partners, as well as some offline partners, and that as a result of the “shortness of the time between when the gazette was received and when GRA issued the written instructions and midnight, a few of them might fall within the cracks”.

Asked whether he had received any complaint of wrongful deduction, he responded in the negative, saying that if anyone had any complaint, they would have channellel it to the EMI that would have wrongfully deducted them.

Traders react

Traders at Adabraka, a suburb of Accra, have expressed relief and optimism following the government’s repeal of the E-Levy.

Some traders, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, said they were already witnessing the benefits, as mobile money transactions now came without the additional charges that previously cut their earnings.

One such trader, TsoTsoe Tagoe, described the scrapping of the E-Levy as a welcome relief, particularly for small-scale businesses like hers, which handle transactions ranging from as little as GH¢1 to larger sums.

She shared how she recently transferred GH¢202 without any deductions, confirming the change first-hand.

According to her, the levy had made it difficult to accumulate small earnings, but with its removal, she said she could now save and reinvest in her business without losing money to transaction charges.

She urged the government to uphold policies that would drive economic growth and alleviate poverty.

Another shop owner, Regina Darko, also commended the government for scrapping the levy, stating that it had been a financial burden, especially for business owners who conducted multiple transactions on a daily basis.

“I’m someone who sends a lot of money and does a lot of transactions, and each time, something is deducted.

So if, God-willing, they have scrapped it, those little charges will now be mine,” she said.

Ms Darko expressed confidence that the government would not reintroduce the tax, at least under the current administration.

However, another trader, Samuel Teye, despite echoing similar sentiments, cautioned against the levy’s possible return in the future.

While he acknowledged the relief that had come with its removal, he hoped the decision would not be reversed.

He urged the government to ensure that the repeal remained permanent, saying businesses needed long-term certainty to operate effectively.

Source: Graphic