Chamber of the Parliament of Ghana
On July 8, 2017, government was charged with contempt of parliament after it tried to suspend the implementation of reviewed Value Added Tax (VAT) rates.
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Government has been cited for a possible charge of contempt of parliament after what the Minority described its moves to suspend the implementation of reviewed Value Added Tax (VAT) rates.
It would be recalled that following a huge public uproar, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government upon assumption of office abolished several taxes and reduced, among them, VAT from 17.5 per cent to a flat rate of 3 per cent as a means of alleviating the plight of the poor.
But the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in a statement postponed the implementation of the reduction to 1st July, 2017, a development the Minority has argued is an affront to the laws of the land.
In parliament today, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu’s motion for the suspension to be set aside was upheld by the House.
“We were in this House in April when the Minister of Finance introduced what was called the Value Added Tax Amendment 2017. Mr Speaker, subsequently this august House passed the Bill through the proper processes of legislative scrutiny and passed it into law,” he explained.
He, therefore, did not understand why the GRA had gone back and was trying to do something else not sanctioned by parliament.
He was of the view that the publication by the GRA of the postponement of the amendment will create “confusion in the minds of the Ghanaian public and to businesses including wholesalers and retailers”.
But government in opposing the motion argued that the statement was sent in error since the GRA had no power to make such decisions.
Deputy Finance Minister Kweku Kwarteng indicated: “He has seen the [GRA] advert and I’m clear in my mind that it is an error because nobody, not even the Ministry of Finance, has the authority to suspend a law that has been passed by this House. Therefore, the motion that suggests that the Ministry of Finance and the GRA have suspended the implementation must not be carried because Mr Speaker, the preparation and issue and in fact the communication of this practice notes are part of the implementation and we are doing so…”
However, First Deputy Speaker Joe Osei-Owusu, in ruling on the matter, urged leadership to meet with all stakeholders in the case and report back to the House.