The demonstration dubbed: "Drop the 2022 Budget," started from the Tema Station to the Parliament House.
E-levy: #FixTheCountry movement protest against 2022 budget
Thousands of protesters have joined the #FixTheCountry demo to rally against the 2022 budget and fiscal policy of the government.
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The protestors said the 2022 budget and economic policy does not address the core issues of the structure of the economy.
"Having analysed the 2022 budget, we have come to the conclusion that the budget presents no hope for the people; rather, its proposed policies and measures will exacerbate the plights of the people and increase the hardship on us" the demonstrators said.
According to them, the tax increases and introduction of new taxes especially the e-levy in the 2022 budget.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced the introduction of a 1.75% phone transactions levy payable by mobile money users per transaction above GH¢100.
Delivering the 2022 budget statement and economic policy to Parliament on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, Ofori-Atta said the new levy will compensate for the abolishment of road tolls.
Ofori-Atta noted during his delivery that the government has scrapped the amount of money being paid by motorists as tolls on public roads in the country.
Explaining the rationale behind the scrapping of the road tolls, the Minister said the revenue that accrues to the state for the construction and maintenance of roads is inadequate and hence, the government has to look elsewhere to equitably generate revenues for the construction and maintenance of our roads.
Earlier, the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, has stated that any Ghanaian transferring over GH¢100 through mobile money is not poor, therefore, must be taxed.
She stated that any person sending money that is above GH¢100 to another cannot be considered to be poor because that amount is big enough, therefore, that person must be taxed.
"The state is saying that if you are sending up to a GH¢100 a day, cumulatively you can send up to GH¢3000 a month, that is all going to be tax-free. Now if you have more than a GH¢100 to send a day, then you're not poor. So if you really are poor and you are in a position to send a GH¢100 a day, then we need to re-classify our definition of who the real beneficiaries are. And it is only the sender who pays, not the recipient. Unlike the Telcos where both the sender and receiver pay…," she stated.
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