• Live Radio
  • Videos
  • About
  • Contact
  • Despite Media
Ghana Election 2020
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Politics
  • Showbiz
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • VIDEOS
  • Media
    • Videos
    • Audio
    • Live Radio
    • Photos
  • Election 2020
Local News
 
 
 
Home Business Business News 202102

MoMo Transaction Fees Must Be Taxed – Ursula Owusu-Ekuful

17-Feb-2021
/ Business News, Business
Email
Print
Comments 0
(0)
Comments
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
 

The Minister-designate for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said the transaction fees generated by operators of mobile money should be taxed in the wake of declining traditional revenue streams in the telecommunication sector.

According to her, a report from the Common Platform, which monitors mobile money transactions, indicated that monthly usage from 344.6 million transactions, in January 2021 alone, amounted to GH¢81.3 billion.

Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament yesterday, the minister-designate disclosed that the 44.6 million mobile money transactions generated GH¢124.5 million non-taxed transaction fees for the mobile money operators.

“In my opinion, the transaction fees generated by operators from this huge traffic and volumes of mobile money platforms ought to be taxed,” Ursula suggested and added that “that is my personal opinion and I have said so on several platforms.”

Serious Analysis

She explained that this should not be misconstrued to mean that consumers of mobile money be taxed, instead, the revenue earned by the telecommunication companies from the transaction charges on individuals who send and receive monies.

“The fee, which they (consumers) pay to all the network operators for this service, is revenue that they earn and the state has to be interested in that, and has to tax them. I have been further informed that some of them are even facing out the sale of scratch cards and insisting on top-ups from mobile money,” she said.

For her, what that means is that the revenue that the state would have received from the sale and receipt of scratch cards is lost and that the current levy of 1% on mobile money transactions is income for the telecoms which is “beyond the reach of the state.”

“So while we are losing money on the traditional revenue stream because of technology, we are also disabling the state from gaining revenue from the new streams that these network operators are using,” said Ursula.

She added that “the state has disabled itself because currently, mobile money and all the revenues generated from it are not taxed as financial transactions. So I believe we need to look at that again.

“This will not be a tax against users of mobile money because the telecommunication companies are already charging consumers for the use of this service and that is 1%. That revenue that they are getting from the transaction fees, I believe the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Minister of Finance ought to be interested in that.

“As I indicated earlier, GH¢124.5 million in January alone in transaction fees for mobile money was a huge amount (going as untaxed revenue for the operators). If even the state is getting 10% per month that is GH¢12.4 million per month; that is significant.”

She said, “I think we need to have this conversation in view of the fact that the state is losing revenue from the traditional revenue streams because of the evolution of technology.”

She noted that the number of people who made normal voice calls was declining and that the revenue that the state would have got from the Communication Service Tax was also declining.

“That is organic and it is not going to go up any time soon. We are using more data to do more, which is great. This is a conversation that we are having globally. Other over-the-top services are taking away from the traditional streams which are being lost.

“New revenue streams are being generated and a lot of studies are being done globally from the GSMA, ITU and the CTO, all looking at this face,” she said.

Cyber Security

In the area of cybersecurity, the Communications and Digitisation Minister-designate indicated that a lot had been done in the past few years on cybersecurity, but said: “a lot more needs to be done.”

“It has given the power to designate critical infrastructure which will also need to be registered and managed in compliance with set standards which the authority will determine. It has also given the power to establish a computer emergency response centre, which will oversee sector-specific emergency response teams.

“The National Communication Authority (NCA) has already set up a computer emergence team for the telecommunications sector,” she pointed out, and added that “the Bank of Ghana, in conjunction with the Cyber Security Centre, has set up another one for the financial sector. The security sector also has one, or if they don’t, they need one.”

“We need one for the utilities, for the transportation sector. I have also launched one for NITA to oversee an e-government network,” she said.


Source: Goldstreet Business

 

 
 

 

Comments ( 0 ): Post Your Comments >>

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
Featured Video
Previous Post

Absa Bank Ghana Partners Transitions To Offer Customers Enhanced Services

Next Post

Michael Obeng: Renowned Ghanaian Surgeon To Establish Pharmaceutical Plant in Ghana

 
 

More Stories

How To Buy A Mobile Device And Pay In Installments With ‘Vodafone Cash Pay Small Small’
A Web Platform for Loans and Credit Launches in Ghana
How To Achieve Excellence In Sales
What Top Salespeople Know that makes them Successful
NIMED Capital Limited Officially Launched An IPO For Its Unit Trust
ECOWAS Bank For Investment And Development Signed € 40 Million Framework Agreement With ODDO BHF Aktiengesellschaft
EBID Grants A €10m Line Of Credit To Vista Bank Guinea To Support SMEs And SMIs
TonatonJOBS Revamps The Recruitment Process
Invest In Africa Appoints Carol Annang As Ghana Country Director
Next Post

Michael Obeng: Renowned Ghanaian Surgeon To Establish Pharmaceutical Plant in Ghana

  Ghana Business News

  • General News
  • Economy
  • Banking & Finance
  • Stock Market
  • Industry/Manufacturing


 
 

Other Business News Stories

  • How To Buy A Mobile Device And Pay In Installments With ‘Vodafone Cash Pay Small Small’

  • A Web Platform for Loans and Credit Launches in Ghana

  • How To Achieve Excellence In Sales

  • What Top Salespeople Know that makes them Successful

  • NIMED Capital Limited Officially Launched An IPO For Its Unit Trust

  • ECOWAS Bank For Investment And Development Signed € 40 Million Framework Agreement With ODDO BHF Aktiengesellschaft

  • EBID Grants A €10m Line Of Credit To Vista Bank Guinea To Support SMEs And SMIs

  • TonatonJOBS Revamps The Recruitment Process

  • Invest In Africa Appoints Carol Annang As Ghana Country Director

  • Glovo Launches Its Multi-Category Delivery Service In Ghana

 

 
 

Popular Videos

Aftermath Of SC Ruling: Mahama "Missed A Golden Opportunity To Copy Akufo-Addo" - Nana B

Avoid Alcohol 48 to 72 Hours After COVID Vaccination

Just 4 Laughs With Dan Kweku Yeboah And Kwami Sefa Kayi: Remedials And The "Arrogant" Minister

Dr Okoe Boye On Why The Left Arm Is Often Used For COVID Vaccination

When Supreme Court Dismissed Mahama's Election Petition - Lawyer TK Explains Final Ruling

Just 4 Laughs With Dan Kweku Yeboah And Kwami Sefa Kayi: Soloku For The Ghetto Boy

Peace FM Online and Despite Media

peacefmonline.com offers its reading audience with a comprehensive online source for up-to-the-minute news about politics, business, entertainment and other issues in Ghana

Follow us on social media:

Category

  • Home
  • Local News
  • Politics
  • Showbiz
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Trivia
  • Foreign
  • Audio
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Elections
Decision Time
Ghana Election 2020 2016 Elections
Services
Live Radio Audio on Demand Ghana Elections Advertise with Us
Useful Links
Despite Media About Us Contact Us Feedback Form Terms and Conditions Privacy
Our Brands
Despite Media UTV Peace FM Okay FM Hello FM Neat FM Peacefmonline
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • Privacy

© 2020 Peacefmonline.com - An online portal owned and managed by Despite Media

  • Home
  • Local News
  • Politics
  • Showbiz
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Articles
  • Trivia
  • Foreign
  • Live Radio
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Audio
  • Election 2020

© 2020 Peacefmonline.com - An online portal owned and managed by Despite Media