The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has urged the newly inaugurated Unbiased Tax Appeals Board to champion using Different Dispute Decision (ADR) mechanism, to expedite the decision of tax disputes to boost authorities’s income mobilisation.
He mentioned the present dispute decision regime, which required a taxpayer to attraction to the Commissioner-Basic of the Ghana Income Authority (GRA) on tax issues and go to the court docket if dissatisfied, ‘holds-up’ potential authorities income, generate prices and frustrates each the Authority and taxpayers.
ADR mechanisms, he defined, have been accepted as a speedy and more economical method to resolving tax disputes and instil confidence in buyers and scale back the time spent on litigation for each taxpayers and the income administration.
Mr Ofori-Atta made the decision in Accra final Friday through the inauguration of the primary 11-member board, chaired by a retired Justice of the Courtroom of Attraction, Justice Lawrence Mensah.
Different members embrace Peter Kwame Abebrese, retired Deputy Commissioner of GRA; Mangowa Ghanney, personal authorized practitioner; Nii Ayi Aryeetey, tax practitioner; Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu, retired Justice of the Excessive Courtroom; Emmanuel Obeng Asiedu, retired chartered accountant; Theophilus Tawiah, personal authorized practitioner; Dr Isaac Nyame, accounting and tax practitioner and Catherine Quainoo, and Fauziah Ibrahim, each representatives of the personal sector.
The board, Mr Ofori-Atta famous, would be sure that tax disputes have been resolved in a well timed method, in addition to present a more economical dispute decision medium for each GRA and taxpayers.
Moreover, he mentioned, it will instil confidence in buyers by offering a impartial entity for the decision of tax disputes, and relieve the Ministry of Finance from having to mediate or resolve tax disputes between GRA and taxpayers.
Mr Ofori-Atta requested the board to develop a powerful tax dispute decision system, able to supporting the nation’s revenue mobilisation drive.
He suggested the Board to supply a good and unbiased discussion board for dispute decision between taxpayers and the GRA and take choices based mostly on the proof offered and in accordance with the legislation.
Mr Ofori-Atta urged the Board to assist resolve disputes between taxpayers and the federal government in a well timed and environment friendly method, present steering and precedent for related instances sooner or later and promote compliance with tax legal guidelines by offering readability on the interpretation of tax legislations.
He expressed hope that the work of the board would assist to extend the nation’s tax to GDP ratio, which at present stood at 13 per cent, making it one of many lowest within the West African sub-region.
The minister pledged the Ministry’s assist to allow the board deliver on its mandate by recognizing, respecting and defending the rights and bonafide expectations of taxpayers on one hand and upholding the income mobilisation efforts of the federal government.
Justice Lawrence Mensah, on behalf of the board, expressed gratitude to the federal government for the opportunity to function members of the Board.
He defined that the current efforts to make sure sturdy judicial oversight for the taxation panorama of the nation may solely assist to strengthen income mobilisation drive.
The board, Justice Mensah assured, would work to supply an environment friendly and efficient discussion board to speedily reremedy disputes that would have created distractions for market gamers and distorted authorities’s earnings generation projections
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
