[2022]DLSC11868 • November 30, 2022 • Supreme Court •
KWASI AFRIFA vs. GHANA REVENUE AUTHORITY
The appellant, a lawyer, was assessed for taxes covering 2012 to 2016 by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and objected to the assessment. He paid the outstanding taxes including 30% of the disputed tax and penalties. Subsequently, when applying for a Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) in 2019, GRA demanded additional documentation and insisted that objections to tax assessments would not be entertained unless outstanding taxes, including 30% of disputed tax, were paid as per Section 42(5) of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915). The appellant challenged the constitutionality of Section 42(5) alleging it violated his right to administrative justice under Article 23 of the 1992 Constitution.
read moreJUDGMENT LEAD JUDGMENT TORKORNOO (MRS.) JSC:- BACKGROUND This reference to the Supreme Court was sent by the Court of Appeal, Kumasi. The plaintiff/appellant (referred to as the appellant in this ruling) before the court of appeal is a lawyer who was given a tax assessment to pay in 2017. He objected to it and following various communications with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), paid what was determined to be his outstanding taxes from 2012 to 2016 inclusive of 30% of the tax in dispute and a sum computed as penalty. In 2017 and 2018, he was suspended from law practice by the General Legal Council and in June 2019, he applied to the GRA for a tax clearance certificate (TCC). GRA demanded information on his client account, utility and medical expenses and all returns of income for 2018 and 2019. His response was that he did not engage in legal practice over the years 2017 and 2018. The counter response of GRA was that unless the documents requested were supplied, the tax ob...