The Court of Appeal is expected to deliver two tax judgments this week. These judgments are expected on Thursday, 22nd January 2026. The cases are Orica Ghana Limited v The Commissioner-General and The Republic v The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority; Ex parte: Agility Distribution Parks Ghana Limited.
The Orica case was decided by the High Court in 2022. Some of the questions the High Court had to answer included whether it was appropriate to apportion the taxpayer’s income into income from manufacturing business and income from management services for the purposes of granting location incentives. The problem was that location incentives in Act 896, where a lower tax rate applied to chargeable income, was available for manufacturing business. While the taxpayer argued that the manufacturing business covered all activities, the GRA argued that it could separate the activities and identify pure manufacturing activities.
Another question in the Orica case was whether tax credits can be applied beyond the statutory period. For context, the GRA had confirmed company income tax credits for Orica in a previous audit. Orica did not apply for a refund. Subsequently, the GRA disregarded the credits and said the six-year limit for it to raise an assessment prevented it from looking at or recognising the credit. Further, the period for the refund application had expired and so the credit was lost. That is, section 66 of Act 915 provides a grace period of three years within which an application for refund could be made. This grace period elapsed. Orica argued that Act 915 used the word “may” in section 66 and so it was not mandatory to apply for refund within the three years. It can go beyond the three years.
The High Court ruled in favour of the taxpayer on all the issues. The GRA therefore appealed that decision. For details of the High Court case, refer to this page.
The Agility case involved a mandamus application to compel the GRA to make a VAT refund. The central issue is the real relationship between the VAT Act, which came into force in 2014, and the Revenue Administration Act, which came in 2017. The taxpayer relied on a rule of interpretation that a where a later law conflicts with an earlier one, the later law takes precedence. That is, Act 915 impliedly repealed the part of Act 870 that says subject to some conditions, VAT overpayment should be credited, and not refunded. The GRA responded that the VAT Act’s provisions on crediting excess VAT were not touched by Act 915 and hence the taxpayer was not entitled to any refund.
In 2021, the High Court ruled that under the VAT law, refunds are reserved for specific persons and granted under certain conditions. The Revenue Administration Act could not be used to claim VAT refunds because it is a law of general application while the VAT law is a specific law. Further, Act 915 did not amend the portion of Act 870 on carry-forward of credits. In any case, Act 915 itself says it is to be read together with other laws and hence is not meant to contradict other laws. So, conflicts must be resolved in favour of the tax law. For more details, see this page.
We will bring you updates from the Court of Appeal.
