A move by the Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) to stop the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy also called E-levy has fallen flat.
The Supreme Court has unanimously thrown out the injunction application filed by three members of the Minority caucus in Parliament which sought to block the implementation of the levy.
The MPs–Haruna Iddrisu, Mahama Ayariga, and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, filed the injunction application on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 following the passage of the bill on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, despite a walkout by the Minority MPs.
They had sought to stop the government from implementing the levy until an earlier case they filed to challenge the passage of the law is determined by the apex court.
The Minority MPs contended that the legal threshold for passage of such a bill was not met before it was passed.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority has already started implementing the 1.5% charge on mobile money and other electronic cash transactions.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, thus ordered the Ghana Revenue Authority to keep accurate records of all e-levy deductions to enable a refund to payees if it is later determined that the law was passed unconstitutionally.
The court said the Republic would suffer a great deal if the government is temporarily stopped from deducting the levy from electronic transactions.
It however noted that mechanisms do exist within the current tax regime to refund payees who have either over-paid or wrongfully paid, and that must be taken advantage of.
The Court was composed of Justices Nene Amegatcher as President, Mariama Owusu, Professor Ashie Kotey, Getrude Torkornoo, Lovelace Johnson, Emmanuel Yony Kulendi, and Professor Henrietta Mensah Bonsu.
By Vincent Kubi