The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has warned financial institutions to discontinue charging Value Added Tax (VAT) on financial services.
Acting GRA Commissioner-General, Emmanuel Kofi Nti, in a statement Wednesday said the tax has been abolished as part of government’s tax reliefs announced in the 2017 budget.
He said the tax cancellation was given effect when Parliament passed the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2017 (Act 948) that included the “supply of financial services as exempt supply.”
The GRA’s intervention comes on the back of complaints by some Ghanaians that they are charged VAT on financial services at their respective banks.
This they said contradicted government’s abolishment of some “nuisance” taxes introduced by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
Although the GRA did not make reference to the complaints of Ghanaians, it cautioned financial institutions to comply with government’s directive by halting VAT charges on financial services.
“In line with the above, we hereby inform all financial institutions to discontinue charging VAT on financial services,” Mr Nti added in the statement.
Read full statement below:
