A member of the Parliament Committee on Finance, Dr. Mark Asibey Yeboah is angry with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for ordering financial institutions in the country to stop charging a one percent tax on interest earned on investments.
He argued that GRA cannot reverse a decision passed by Parliament hence the collection of such taxes should continue “until such a time the government itself decides that it wants the decision reversed and lays it before Parliament.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”9kBzL7IWHmarvnhRs9uiuLO2S3lgRdss”]The GRA this week directed all financial institutions to suspend the collection of the 1% tax.
The government begun implementation of an Act of Parliament which imposed a one percent tax on interests accruing from investments made by individuals but the decision was met with a massive public outcry.
Meanwhile the GRA on Wednesday directed the financial institutions to halt the collection of the tax since a proposal has been forwarded to Parliament for a reversal.
Though Dr. Asibey said he is against the tax, he told Citi News that the GRA has breached the law by suspending the collection of the taxes days after the Act was implemented.
“If Parliament passes a law, the president assents to it that is the position of the law. Even the president in his press conference was not able to send a message to Ghanaians that nobody should pay that tax; the minister of finance cannot say same. Now the GRA sends a directive to financial institutions to stop collecting the tax. I think it’s a not right, they shouldn’t have done that and as the law stands they should go ahead and collect the taxes because it is only parliament that can reverse the decision.”
The New Juaben South lawmaker insisted that though collection of taxes is done by the GRA, it has no right to make such an order.
He said assuming Parliament after deliberating on the law decides not to reverse it, the GRA would have cost huge financial loss to the nation.
“This is an affront to Parliament and the president who has assented to the law and Ghanaians…Where did they get those powers to reverse a decision of Parliament? I just don’t get it.”
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana