The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has stated that the COVID levy introduced by the government will continue to exist until the law is amended.
The COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021 (Act 1068), was introduced by the government in 2021 to help the country recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic.
However, months after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that COVID-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, this levy is still in existence in Ghana.
Some sections of Ghanaians have called for the termination of the payment of the COVID levy, but the GRA has been adamant about the opinion of Ghanaians.
The authority has explained why the COVID-19 levy cannot be scrapped in a Twitter post sighted by 1Family Radio.
According to GRA, the levy cannot be scrapped until the law has been repealed or amended by parliament.
“We receive this question a lot. GRA’s mandate is to collect revenue from taxes and levies as enacted by parliament. The basis of revenue collection is the law. The COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021, Act 1068, did not have an end date, and so the GRA must continue to collect until the law is amended or repealed.’’
“To add to this, the COVID levy was introduced to help the country recover from the effects of COVID.” Although the global pandemic has ended, the government may need to recover expenses incurred during its time. After which, the government will take steps to make necessary changes,’’ the tweet explained.
Source: 1Familyradio