Telecom operators must pay tax on mobile money transactions – Ursula

Minister of Communications and Digitization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful

Last year, the Minister of Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, urged the government to collect taxes from telecom operators on their revenue from mobile money transactions.

She was making her submissions to the Nominations Committee where she said operators should be taxed for the 10% fee on MOMO.

“In my view, the transaction fees generated by operators from this huge traffic and volumes on mobile money platforms should be taxed.”

She went on to say, “I am not saying that individuals who send and receive mobile money should be taxed, but the fees they pay to all network operators for the service are income they earn. and the State must take an interest in it and must tax them for it.

Meanwhile, in the 2022 budget, the government introduced the 1.75 e-tax on mobile money transactions which is currently in dispute.

Read the full story originally published on February 16, 2021 by GhanaWeb

Communications and Digitalization Minister-designate Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has pleaded with the government to start taxing telecom operators on the huge revenue they make from mobile money transactions.

Presenting her remarks to the appointments committee, the communications minister designate revealed that telecom operators should be taxed for the 10% fee they impose on mobile money transactions.

“In my view, the transaction fees generated by operators from this huge traffic and volumes on mobile money platforms should be taxed.

“I am not saying that individuals who send and receive mobile money should be taxed, but the fees they pay to all network operators for the service are income they earn and the state should s interest in it and have to tax them for it,” she said.

According to Ms. Owusu-Ekuful, the country has yet to benefit from technology revenue streams as it continues to evolve.

She also told the committee that telecom operators have also resorted to buying airtime credits through mobile money to evade scratch card taxes. Therefore, when it receives the green light, it will ensure that mobile network operators pay revenue for this.

She said: “The revenue that the state would have earned from the sale and receipt of scratch cards is lost to the state. They charge 10% for every mobile money recharge i.e. the money they generate, which is currently beyond the reach of the state.

“So while we are losing money on traditional revenue streams due to changing technology, we have prevented the state from earning the revenue from the new stream that these network operators are getting,” he said. she explained.

Ms. Owusu-Ekuful also noted that the state has not put any tax incentives on “mobile money and all revenue generated from it.” [mobile money] are not taxed as financial transactions.