The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has said that government is free to use revenue accrued from the electronic transactions levy on its designated developmental projects.
According to him, the Supreme Court did not direct government as to how the revenue should be used.
“There is no order made [by the SC] directing how the revenue collected today should be disbursed so government is free to utilise the revenue for its developmental activities and for the various projects that it has promised the people of Ghana”, the Attorney General disclosed in a Joy News interview monitored by angelonline.com.gh.
Godfred Yeboah Dame, who doubles as the Minister of Justice also stated that nothing stops the Ghana Revenue Authority from collecting the e-levy since the Apex Court threw out the injunction application by the minority Members of Parliament which sought to block the implementation of the e-levy.
Three MPs, who were led by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrissu, filed the suit on Tuesday, April 19, after the bill was passed on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, by a one-sided majority following a walk-out by the minority caucus.
But in a unanimous voting, the Supreme Court dismissed the injunction application after it scheduled Wednesday, May 4, to hear the case brought before it by three members of the Minority caucus in Parliament.
However, the Court 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 as contended by the minority caucus.
The minority welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to the GRA to preserve e-levy records pending the determination of the substantive case.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrissu, described the decision as “refreshing and heartwarming.”
