President John Dramani Mahama has assented to a number of legislative bills aimed at abolishing several taxes, including the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), Betting Tax, and Emissions Tax.
This follows the passage of the bills by Parliament Wednesday, March 26, 2025, and forwarded to his office to sign.
The abolishment of the taxes forms part of the President’s promise to bring relief to Ghanaians during the electioneering period in 2024.
On March 13, 2025, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, presented eight bills to Parliament, aimed at the repeal and amendment of various taxes and levies.
Notably amongst them included the Electronic Transfer Levy (Repeal) Bill, 2025; Emissions Levy (Repeal) Bill, 2025; Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025; and the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The E-levy, the most popular amongst the scrapped taxes, was introduced by the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration in 2022 despite strong opposition by then Minority NDC and Ghanaians at large.
The levy imposed a 1% charge on electronic transactions, including mobile money transfers and online payments.
According to financial experts and analysts, the levy was going to affect disposal incomes of people, which led to the massive resistance against its passage.
It also affected mobile money transactions by reducing the rate of money transfers, with mobile money vendors raising concerns over the effect of the levy on their business.
The Betting Tax, which levied a 10% charge on gross winnings from gambling activities, also faced criticism from stakeholders in the gaming industry.
At a short ceremony held at the seat of government Wednesday, April 02, 2025, the President signed the bills making it one of the major campaign promises of the administration.
The E-levy and Betting Tax were among President Mahama’s first 120 days campaign promises which have been effected with the approval of the amended tax bills.
Here is the full list of the bills assented by the President today,
- Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Repeal Bill 2025
- Emissions levy repeal bill
- Value Added Tax (VAT) Amendment Bill
- Income Tax Amendment Bill 2025
- Petroleum Revenue Management Amendment Bill, 2025
- Public Financial Management Amendment Bill
- Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Bill
- Value Added Tax Amendment bill 2025
- Energy sector levy Act
- Gold Board Bill 2025
- Growth and Sustainability Levy Act
Ghanaians are happy over scrapping of e-levy, other taxes, but… – Joe Jackson
