The Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, says the government will abolish the betting tax, the Electronic Levy, also known as E-levy. These taxes were promised to be abolished by the government while it was in opposition.
Reactions from the youth who have been betting and complaining about the introduction of betting tax has showed gratitude to the goverment. However, the entire nation is excited that the infamous e-levy has also been abolished by the NDC government.
Presenting the 2025 budget to Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister for Finance explained that the move is to ease the burden on Ghanaians.
“Mr. Speaker: we will abolish the 10% withholding tax on winnings from the lottery, otherwise known as the Betting Tax”
“We will abolish the Electronic Transfer Levy (ELevy) of 1%; iii we will abolish the Emission Levy on industries and vehicles; iv we will abolish the VAT on motor vehicle insurance policy; and we will abolish the 1.5% withholding tax on winning of unprocessed gold by small-scale miners.”
Speaking in Parliament, the Minister for Finance said the abolishing of these taxes is expected to lesson the burden of taxes on households, business and the general public.
“Mr. Speaker, the removal of these taxes will ease the burden on households and improve their disposable incomes. In addition, it will support business growth and improve tax compliance.
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“Mr. Speaker, the Tax Refund Account has been abused in recent years. A study on the use of the tax refunds in the last eight (8) years revealed that GHS29.11 billion had accrued to the tax refund account with only 12.5 billion, representing 43% of the total accrued amount used for tax refund purposes.”