Taxes are mandatory contributions levied on individuals or corporations by a government entity – whether local, regional, or national. Taxes cannot be imposed without any legislation. It is a creature of statute.
Article 174 of the 1992 Constitution clearly states that except by or under the authority of an ACT of Parliament, no tax shall be imposed on anyone by any agency or institution. The law further expands by saying that where the act confers authority on anyone to waive or vary the tax imposed, that authority can only be exercised with the approval of two-thirds of all members of Parliament by resolution. This presupposes that anyone who acts contrary to this provision can be liable.
Prior to the vote to accept the e-levy tax in Parliament, the Road and Transport Minister suspended with immediate effect the collection of road tolls in Ghana. The Road Tolls Regulations are among other laws in Ghana that impose taxes on citizens. These include the additional profit tax act, airport tax act, casino revenue tax act, communications service tax act, customs and excise (duties and other taxes), income tax act, petroleum income tax act, tax amnesty act, value added tax act, and many others. All these and others that have not been mentioned are statutes that impose a tax on the Ghanaian citizenry by the Constitution through Parliament.
No individual or government agency is clothed with the authority to vary any of these tax impositions without recourse to Parliamentary approvals. A classical exposition of this position of the law was typified in the decided case between CEPS and Poultry Farmers Association of Ghana. A new law was developed to ensure that Poultry Farming was promoted in Ghana. This was done by raising taxes on imported poultry products. The CEPS decided to suspend the implementation of the new law upon petition by the Importers Association and this made the Poultry Farmers Association sue CEPS. It was clear that CEPS had no power to delay the implementation of the law without the approval of Parliament. How different is this from the decision of the Minister to suspend the collection of Road Tolls?
A recent discussion from a report issued by the Special Prosecutor (SP) highlighted an issue where a CEPS officer gave a waiver on some tax to a company to import some cold food products. It has become very topical, and everyone is heard talking about it. The issue seems to be very iconic among the cases listed as part of the report of the SP. There is no clear distinction between the decision of the CEPS officer to waive some taxes compared to the decision to stop the collection of Road Tolls by the Road and Transport Ministry. Or is it the case that in the latter case, Ghanaians and citizens of our neighbouring countries are benefiting from the decision without recourse to Parliamentary approval?
This does not suggest that the case of the CEPS officer granting tax waiver without Parliamentary approval should not be discussed. But just as the decision to act contrary to the provisions of Article 174 of the 1992 Constitution on Road Tolls collection, the energies should not be different.
It is worth noting that no one has the power to impose or waive tax on citizens without Parliamentary approval. One need not belabour the point as our legal systems reiterated this legal position when the University of Ghana decided to charge fees on Ghanaians who wanted to use access roads through the University. The President of the Republic has not even been clothed with such powers to impose or vary tax without the legislature and it must inform all that the Constitution frowns on illegal taxes.
When you are asked to pay any form of a levy, first check where the mandate is coming from and in the same vain, if someone is waiving off a tax you are to pay, find out if Parliament is allowing that else, do not be surprised to be chased for it when Ghana decides to do so.
The sword must be two-edged in discussing matters of liability with respect to those who cloth themselves without powers they have not been given.