[2023]DLHC16658 • November 9, 2023 • High Court
SCANCOM PLC vs GHANA REVENUE AUTHORITY
Scancom PLC, operating as MTN Ghana, conducted telecommunication and mobile money businesses until 2018 when Mobile Money Limited was created as a separate entity. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) audited Scancom PLC for tax liabilities from January 2014 to December 2018, focusing on Value Added Tax (VAT) on imported services, National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL), Ghana Education Trust Fund Levy (GETFund Levy), and withholding taxes. GRA assessed a tax liability of over GHS 617 million, with Scancom accepting and paying part of it but objecting to the VAT on imported services and NHIL/GETFund levies on imported services. The dispute centered on whether VAT and levies should apply to imported services used for taxable supplies (telecommunications) versus exempt supplies (mobile money).
read moreJUDGMENT September 2021 and has appealed against the said decision to the High Court. The grounds of appeal are as follows: I. The Respondent erred in law and acted arbitrarily by imposing Value Added Tax liability on the Appellant for Imported Services for the period January 2014 to December 2017, when (i) The Value Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act 870) does not impose Value Added Taxes on Imported Services which are used to make Taxable Supplies; (ii) The Appellant had used the Imported Services for that period solely for its Telecommunication business (taxable supplies); and (iii) Even if Respondent had identified that some of the Imported Services had been used for the Appellant's Mobile Money business (Exempt Supplies), the Value Added Tax, 2013 (Act 870) does not authorise the imposition of an arbitrary Value Added Tax liability based on the proportion of the total revenue of the Taxpayer generated from the Exempt supplies. 2. That Respondent erred in law by relying on a Ghan...