Government to set up Independent Tax Appeals Board

All things being equal, the government will be making appointments to set up the Independent Tax Appeals Board (ITAB) in the next couple of months.

The new statutory body is to help adjudicate disputes between taxpayers and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The board was created through the Revenue Administration (Amendment) Act 2020, which was passed into law last October. One of its goals is to limit taxpayers’ recourse to the law courts to settle their tax disputes, as the board will be the first forum to hear appeals against contested decisions of the Commissioner-General of the GRA.

Speaking at a virtual tax dialogue organised by the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC), Head of the Tax Policy Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Daniel Nuer, said there was a delay in composing the board and its secretariat due to the elections and the subsequent process of constituting the new government.

“We expect that within the first half of the year, the appointments can be done and the secretariat can start setting up, so we all have the ease of looking at issues relating to decisions made by the GRA,” he added.

The amended revenue administration law provides that a person who is dissatisfied with a decision of the Commissioner-General of the GRA may within 30 days appeal against the decision to the ITAB.

Prior to the amendment, a person dissatisfied with any tax decision of the Commissioner-General could only seek redress through the courts. ITAB is expected to reduce tax litigation and improve taxpayer confidence in the revenue administration system.

Source: News Guide Africa