'E-Levy was emotionally driven, and the results are clear,' says Prof. Bokpin

Economics professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin has criticized the Electronic Levy (E-Levy). He called it an emotionally driven policy. He believes its failure was predictable from the start.

On Joy News' PM Express, he discussed the tax policy's lack of scrutiny. This led to unintended consequences after implementation.

“You don’t need to be an economist to agree that this was poorly designed,” Prof. Bokpin said. He noted that actual revenue did not match expectations. This indicates a lack of proper filtering in the policy process.

He suggested that even within the Ministry of Finance, there was insufficient analysis before rollout. “I’m not sure this one was really subjected to critical analysis,” he added.

Prof. Bokpin highlighted how frequent tax changes burden businesses significantly. In the last two and a half years, companies had to reconfigure systems often for compliance.

“The compliance costs for banks and manufacturers are huge,” he noted.

He also pointed out that the levy discouraged financial inclusion and economic formalization. Sending money incurs high taxes, which he described as backward.

He welcomed the government's decision to repeal the levy. This move signals a reset for the digital economy, he believes.

“I think it’s good that we are resetting,” he stated. He emphasized mobile money's role in driving financial inclusion and growth.

Prof. Bokpin urged policymakers to learn from this experience. Future tax policies should undergo rigorous evaluation before implementation.

“We want to build a digital economy,” he said. Tax policies should not hinder financial inclusion or economic growth.