News:
January 28, 2016
Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper, together with the Commissioner of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), George Blankson, are likely to face sanctions from the Parliament of Ghana because of their decision to suspend the implantation of the 1% tax on interests as captured in the Income Tax Amendment Act.
The two are expected to be hauled before the August House for questioning over their act which has been considered as an affront to the legislature.
Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei who raised the matter on the floor of the House, Thursday, sought the guidance of the Speaker to rule on the issue whether it was appropriate for the GRA to suspend the implementation of an Act passed by Parliament.
“Mr. Speaker, you will recall that we’ve passed the Income Tax Amendment Act but unfortunately, some institutions write in the papers suspending implementation of the Act. These days people are talking about Parliament that we are not serious. I think the least we ought to do is to make people know when Parliament passes an Act, you don’t reverse it until the right thing is done.”
“I refer to the GRA publications several times in the newspapers purporting to suspend an Act of Parliament. I think the least we can do is to send notice to whoever does such a thing that if continuous we will advise ourselves”, he noted.
Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, who was not enthused by the action of the Finance Ministry and the GRA warned that before any decision could be taken over an Act that is in the statutory books of the country, those behind it must seek approval from the August House.
“If it is true that they have put a notice in the newspapers suspending an Act which is on the statutory books, then it is not proper. Until the law is amended, that is the legal position and nobody can suspend a law in the statutory books”.
The 1% tax on interest earned on any investment became operational on January 1, 2016 following the passage of the Income Tax Amendment Act.
This meant that all interest paid to an individual – interest accrued on treasury bills, fixed income deposit, interest from banks and many others will attract a 1% tax.
Also, interests paid to individual unit trust or mutual fund holders were also to be taxed.
But the implementation sparked uproar among the citizenry, with some threatening to withdraw their savings and other investments made from the banks and other financial institutions.
The GRA reasoning with the concerns raised by the populace issued a notice in the daily newspapers suspending the implementation of the law.