Connect with us

General News

High Court rules in favor of GRA for slapping tax liability on MTN Ghana

Published

on

The audit covered all parts of MTN's operations, including Input Value Added Tax claims for products and services acquired by MTN Ghana, Value Added Tax on services imported by the firm, and Input Value Added Tax claims for office premises built by the telecom giant. MTN Ghana, which thinks it has fulfilled all of its tax duties, filed to court to have the GRA judgement annulled. As a result, the business requested the following reliefs:

In a GH19 million tax obligation action taken against the Ghana Revenue Authority by Scancom PLC, the owners of MTN Ghana, the Commercial Division of the High Court in Accra found in favour of the authority.

Scancom PLC had taken GRA to court, claiming that the authority had made a legal error and behaved arbitrarily in issuing the tax responsibility order on the firm from January 2014 to December 2017.

The Ghana Revenue Authority launched a comprehensive tax examination of MTN Ghana from January 2014 to December 2018.

The audit covered all parts of MTN’s operations, including Input Value Added Tax claims for products and services acquired by MTN Ghana, Value Added Tax on services imported by the firm, and Input Value Added Tax claims for office premises built by the telecom giant.

MTN Ghana, which thinks it has fulfilled all of its tax duties, filed to court to have the GRA judgement annulled.

As a result, the business requested the following reliefs:

a. An order overturning the Respondent’s decision to levy an extra GHS8,793,598.00 in Value Added Tax and a penalty and interest of GHS10,933,119 on imported services used by the Appellant in its telecommunications company.

b. An order overturning the Respondent’s decision to levy an extra GHC6,379,483.00 Ghana Education Trust Fund Levy and National Health Insurance Levy, as well as a penalty and interest of GHC2,566,124.00 on imported services used by the Appellant for its company.

c. An order quashing the sections of the Current Tax Assessment related to the headings “Disputed Assessment” and reversing Respondent’s Objection Decision in relation to those parts.

d. Any further order(s) required by the justice of the case.

Judgement 

The court presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Afi Agbanu Kudomor on November 9, 2023, ruled that GRA did not commit an error in imposing the tax duty on MTN Ghana.

Below are excerpts of the judgement:

Because of the combined impact of the aforementioned provisions of the Value Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act 870) for imported services, Value Added Tax will not apply unless the imported services were used to make Taxable supply (telecommunication company). However, Value Added Tax will apply if the imported services are used to make an Exempt supply (mobile money business).

Respondent was thus correct in applying the definition in section 65 of the Value Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act 870) to the transactions in question in determining the total cost of imported services and allocating the contribution to total revenue between Exempt and Taxable Supplies.

Respondent did not err in law and did not behave arbitrarily in imposing Value Added Tax liability on the Appellant for Imported Services from January 2014 to December 2017 due to the Appellant’s position as a Partial Exempt Trader during the assessment period.

The terms of the two revised statutes clearly show that the National Health Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2018 (Act 971) and the Ghana Education Trust Fund Act, 2018 (Act 972) are distinct from the Value Added Tax Act, 2018 (Act 870).

As a result, the two statutes impose a tax on the import of services that are not entitled to input tax deduction.

The two statutes impose a tax or charge on the importation of services that are not entitled to input tax deduction, regardless of what the imported service was intended to be utilised for during the review period.

The Value Added Tax rate of 12.5% was inapplicable to the Appellant for the relevant periods in 2018 (August 2018 to December 2018), but the Ghana Educational Trust Fund Levy and National Health Insurance Levy, each of 2.5%, were applicable on the imported services by Appellant, regardless of whether these imported services were used to produce Taxable or Exempt supplies.

As a result, the Respondent did not commit a legal error when it imposed the National Health Insurance Levy and the Ghana Education Trust Fund Levy (along with interest and penalties) on the Appellant’s Imported Services from August 2018 to December 2018, regardless of whether they were applied to Taxable or Exempt services. For these grounds, the current Tax Appeal fails. There will be no cost hierarchy. Each party is responsible for its own expenses.

Click here to read the full judgement on the MTN Ghana vs GRA case

Continue Reading

General News

9 killed, several others injured in an accident at Ho

Published

on

By

Officials at the Ho Teaching Hospital said that 32 people were admitted for injuries incurred, with 9 dying as a result of their injuries. Amos Jah, the Public Relations Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, said that the injured patients are receiving medical attention and making progress in their rehabilitation.

A terrible accident occurred at the base of Galenkui Mountain in Ho, claiming the lives of nine people, including babies.

The terrifying occurrence occurred as a 207 Benz was transporting goods and passengers from Abotoase to Sogakofe.

The car encountered brake failure while descending the mountain, culminating in a collision with a Zoomlion garbage truck.

Initial reports verified seven fatalities at the disaster scene, including newborns and children.

Following that, Mary Dzifa, a nurse at Ho Municipal Hospital, informed Citi News that roughly ten children had died in the disaster.

“I was at our facility yesterday, November 22, when a car rushed in with dead and injured children and injured adults, especially men. Some were attended to at the facility, and the rest who were severely injured were taken to the Ho Teaching Hospital. The dead children will be about 10.”

Officials at the Ho Teaching Hospital said that 32 people were admitted for injuries incurred, with 9 dying as a result of their injuries.

Amos Jah, the Public Relations Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, said that the injured patients are receiving medical attention and making progress in their rehabilitation.

“I received a call from a friend yesterday who was going back to town and that he saw the accident, so I quickly informed the nurses to be on alert. Some were brought in with pickups, ambulance, tricycles; the situation was very bad, some had broken limbs, some heads almost being severed, some were bleeding from all parts of the body. After two hours, we were able to calm the situation down.”

“We had a total of 30 accident victims brought here. Two others were brought from the Municipal Hospital this morning, making it 32 in all. My information is that we lost 9 of them, 4 are kids and 5 are adults. For the kids, three were brought in dead. Those injured are responding to treatment.”

Continue Reading

General News

This was avoidable – Bonaa on fatal clashes in Nkwanta

Published

on

By

The Oti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will host an emergency security meeting today, Wednesday, November 22, in response to the Nkwanta riots. Regional Minister Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, appearing on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday November 21, verified the number of dead and described the pandemonium as "ethnic clashes."

Dr Adam Bonaa, a security expert, has requested the Oti Regional Minister to restrict all public events in Nkwanta in response to the riots that have taken eight lives.

The fights, in his opinion, were avoidable.

“The Regional Minister and his men must make certain that this never happens again.” This was avoidable, yet 8 people died as a result,” he remarked on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Tuesday, November 21.

He further suggested that “It is important to suspend all public activities that are likely to take place by the two factions, this is the surest way of letting them know that there is an authority within Nkwanta and the region.”

The Oti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will host an emergency security meeting today, Wednesday, November 22, in response to the Nkwanta riots.

Regional Minister Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, appearing on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday, November 21, verified the number of dead and described the pandemonium as “ethnic clashes.”

“Tomorrow we are going to have an emergency security meeting again, ” he further said.

He also disclosed that there had been conflicts in town two weeks earlier between members of two tribes, Adele and Akyode.

Following the conflicts, the Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, acted on the advice of the REGSEC and via Executive Instrument to impose a curfew on Nkwanta township.

The curfew will be in force from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21.

On Tuesday, November 21, an attacker opened fire in the town’s central market area.

Several people have been murdered and others have been injured as a result of the incident.

The Oti Regional Security Council dispatched officers to the region to handle the situation.

interior 2

“Government wishes to appeal to all to exercise restraint and to use the established mechanisms for the resolution of all their conflicts and disputes.

“Meanwhile, the Government will like to reiterate that, there is a ban on all persons in Nkwanta Township and its environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapons and any persons found with any arms or ammunition will be arrested and prosecuted,” the Minister said.

Continue Reading

General News

I never indicated my house was sold – Speaker of Parliament

Published

on

By

However, the Lands Commission claimed in a statement that "at no time did the Lands Commission sell the said property to a private developer." However, in a recent meeting with civil society organisations, the Speaker emphasised that his official house was on the verge of being turned over to a developer except for the intervention of the Lands Commission.

Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has categorically rejected selling his official house to a private developer.

He then stated that his home was “almost sold” to a private developer.

The Speaker of Parliament recently revealed that his Accra home was sold to a private developer while he was still living there.

He said this only came to light when the developer went to the Lands Commission to register the land on Monday at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum in Accra.

However, the Lands Commission claimed in a statement that “at no time did the Lands Commission sell the said property to a private developer.”

In a recent meeting with civil society organisations, the Speaker emphasised that his official house was on the verge of being turned over to a developer except for the intervention of the Lands Commission.

“I didn’t say my residence was sold. That was not what I said. This was just a comment in passing when I said it was almost sold but luckily, I was in possession. And I said it was when they went to Lands Commission that they realised from the search that it was the residence of the Speaker,” Alban Bagbin clarified.

Continue Reading

Trending