MOMO MERCHANT SIMS TO BE CHARGED E-LEVY TOO?

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has refuted allegations that the organization will start levying the 1.5 percent Electronic Transfer Levy (E- Levy) on merchant SIM cards as of today, Friday, July 1, 2022.

Section 2 (2) d of the Electronic Transfer levy Act of 2022 states that some merchant payments are exempt from the charge (Act 1075).

In a statement, GRA urged the public to ignore the report because merchant SIMs are not subject to the fee.

The statement went on to say that neither cash-ins nor cash-withdrawals made at a bank or a mobile money vendor are subject to the E-Levy.

The Authority clarified the concerns in a statement, saying:

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been made aware of false reports that claim that starting on July 1, 2022, the GRA will start levying an E-Levy on merchant SIMs. According to additional sources, E-Levy will apply to Cash-Ins and deposits made through vendors or merchants.

GRA wishes to react as follows:

1 The Electronic Transfer Levy Act, 2022 (Act 1075), Section 2(2)(d), states that the Levy does not apply to Specified Merchant Payments. Payments made to merchants via a payment provider to a person registered with the GRA for income tax or value-added tax reasons are referred to as “specified merchant payments” (VAT). Customers will not be charged the E-Levy while making payments to these designated retailers.

2 The general public should be aware that, contrary to what is being claimed, E-Levy is NOT charged on merchant SIMs. When a customer transfers money to a specified merchant, the E-Levy is only applied if the merchant is not registered with GRA for income tax or VAT reasons.

3 Cash-Outs/cash withdrawals and Cash-Ins/cash deposits made at a bank or a mobile money agent/vendor point are exempt from the E-Levy. This means that clients are not required to pay any money as E-Levy at a mobile money agent or vendor point and that Cash-Ins or deposits do not attract E-Levy. www.gra.gov.gh.