VIVO ENERGY GHANA LTD vs. CORE CONSTRUCTION LTD AND GHANA REVENUE AUTHORITY

The plaintiff, an oil marketing company, supplied Bitumen AC20 and related bitumen products to the 1st defendant, a road construction company, on credit. The 1st defendant defaulted in payment, leaving an admitted outstanding balance of GH¢1,221,831.54. Its defence was not a denial of the debt as such, but that part of the invoiced sum represented import duty and VAT which, according to it, ought not to have been charged because Bitumen AC20 imported from Côte d’Ivoire was allegedly exempt under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS). The 1st defendant therefore counterclaimed for declarations that Bitumen AC20 was exempt from VAT and import duty, and for a refund of alleged excess charges. The 2nd defendant, Ghana Revenue Authority, contended that the 1st defendant had not itself paid import duty to GRA and in any event the imported product had been classified for customs purposes as petroleum bitumen under HS Code 27.13.20.00.00, attracting import duty and VAT. Portion of judgment: “The Plaintiff’s claim against the 1st Defendant was for an amount of GH¢1,221,831.54 together with interest… The 1st Defendant had failed to pay for the products supplied saying that the Plaintiff had charged import levies and VAT contrary to the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme ETLS… In response to paragraph 12 of the Statement of Claim, the 1st Defendant admits that there is an outstanding bill of GH¢1,221,831.54… however… to the extent that the outstanding bill includes import duty and Value Added Tax, the 1st Defendant disputes that it owes this amount…”