12 Statutes passed by Parliament of Ghana in 2021

A total of twelve (12) Statutes were passed by the Parliament of Ghana in the 2021 Legislative year. These laws have either been repealed or amended and modified into existing laws/legislation on various sectors of the Nation’s economy.

The various Statutes can be categorized under four(4) main themes/ areas of the law; Taxation, Finance, Insurance, and National Security.

TAXATION

In the 2021 Legislative year, the Parliament of Ghana passed seven(7) Taxation related Statutes namely;

Energy Sector Levies (Amendment) Act, 2021(Act 1064)

The Energy Sector Levies Amendment Act, 2021 (Act 1064) which was assented to on 31st March 2021, imposes an Energy Sector Recovery Levy of 20 pesewas per litre on petrol and diesel and 18 pesewas per kilogram on LPG.

Additionally, there is an imposition of 10 pesewas per litre on petrol and diesel as Sanitation and Pollution Levy.

An estimated GH¢666.2 million and GH¢311.7 million were expected to be raised from the Energy Sector Recovery Levy and the Sanitation and Pollution Levy respectively.

Penalty and Interest Waiver Act, 2021 (Act 1065)

The Penalty and Interest Waiver Act, 2021 (Act 1065), assented to on 31st March 2021, grants a 100 % waiver of penalties and interests on accumulated tax arrears up to December 2020 for perso0ns who make arrangements with the Ghana Revenue Authority for payment of the principal tax by December 2021.

To take advantage of the waiver, eligible persons had to submit a written application and their outstanding tax returns containing a full disclosure of undisclosed liabilities to the Commissioner-General of the GRA and pay or make arrangements to pay all resulting taxes or assessed and outstanding taxes on or before 30 September 2021.

The Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Act 1066)

Assented to by the President of the Republic on 31st March 2021, The Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2021(Act 1066) amend the Sixth Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 2015(Act 896) to provide for a rebate for selected industrial sectors such as accommodation and food, education, travel and tours, arts and entertainment sectors.

Also, it suspends quarterly instalment payments by specified self-employed persons and owners of commercial vehicles including retail traders, dressmakers and tailors, estates and accommodation agents, artisans and auto technicians as well as owners of classes of vehicles.

Financial Sector Recovery Levy (Act 1067)

The Financial Sector Recovery Levy (Act 1067), assented to on 31st March 2021 imposes a special levy known as the Financial Sector Recovery Levy of 5%  on the profit before tax of Banks specifically those regulated under the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) to raise revenue to support the financial sector reforms.

The levy was payable in three (3) quarterly instalments in 2021. i.e. June, September and December however it is now expected to be paid in four(4) instalments- March, June, September and December.

COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021 (Act 1068)

Another important Levy imposed in 2021 and assented to on March 31st,  is Act 1068 which is a 1% Covid-19 Health Recovery Levy (the “Covid-19 Levy”) on the supply of goods and services and imports to raise revenue to support COVID-19 expenditures.

This Levy however excluded those goods and Services exempted from VATunder the Value Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act 870).

Income Tax (Amendment) (No.2)Act, 2021(Act 1071)

The Income Tax (Amendment) (No.2)Act, 2021(Act 1071) was assented to by the President on 30th December 2021 to amend the Income Tax Act, 2015(Act 896) to review the rates of income tax for individuals to reduce the withholding tax rates for the sale of unprocessed gold by small scale miners; to increase the threshold for an individual to whom the presumptive tax under the Modified Taxation Scheme applies; to extend the COVID-19 concessions granted in 2021 for further six months in 2022.

Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2021(Act 1072)

The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2021(Act 1072) which was assented to on 30th December 2021, amended the Value Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act 870) to limit the application of the flat rate to a retailer with a turnover not exceeding five hundred thousand Ghana Cedis per annum and extend to 31st December 2023, the Value-added Tax Zero-rate on African textile prints for local textile manufacturers by a period of two years.

The various Statutes as passed by the Parliament of Ghana in the 2021 Legislative year can be categorized into three; Tax Statutes, Insurance and Finance statutes and, Defence and Security Statutes.

FINANCE

Three (3) of the Statutes passed, fall under this category. They are;

Securities Industry (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Act 1062)

The Act was assented to and became effective on 19th January 2021.

It provides for the conduct of the investigation by the Securities and Exchanges Commission when assisting other domestic or foreign regulatory authorities, the procedure for dealing with a request for assistance from a foreign securities regulatory authority, the issuance by the Commission of codes, directives, guidelines and circulars and related matters.

Also, the Act modifies the penalty regime applicable to the breach or non-compliance of the Commission’s code, directive, guideline or circular thus the  Commission may impose an administrative penalty not less than fifty penalty units (GHS 600) and not more than. twenty thousand penalty units (GHS 240,000) contrary to what existed under Act 929 or take remedial actions.

Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Act 1063)

The Act, which was assented to on 31st March 2021, amended the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund Act, 2014(Act 877) to provide for additional sources of funds for the GIIF which includes  Two and a half per cent (2.5%) of VAT revenue, proceeds from the disposal of state-owned equity investments etc. and has increased the period of GIIF’s tax exemption from five (5) to fifteen (15) years.

Appropriation Act, 2021 (Act 1069)

The Appropriation Act, 2021 (Act 1069), assented to on March 31, 2021,  authorized the withdrawal of certain amounts from the consolidated fund and other public funds to meet the government’s expenditure in the year under review.

For the 2021 Financial year, the Act approved and authorized the withdrawal or issuance of one hundred and twenty-nine billion, thirty-two million, eight hundred and four thousand, two hundred and one Ghana Cedis (GHC 129,032,804,201) to finance specified programmes of Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other government obligations for the year.

Added to the above was the fact that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies were allowed under the Act to retain and use an amount of five billion, eight hundred and ninety-three million, seven hundred and seventy-two thousand, three hundred and fifty Ghana Cedis (GHC5,893,772,350) for the 2021 Financial year.

INSURANCE

An Insurance-related Statute passed by the Parliament of Ghana in the year under review is the Insurance Act, 2021 (Act 1061).

Insurance Act, 2021 (Act 1061)

The Act which became effective on 5 January 2021 establishes the National Insurance Commission, to provide for the regulation and supervision of the insurance market and related matters.

Also, Act 1061  creates a new category of licence to effectively regulate the growing Insurance Technology sector and an Insurance Education Fund for the Education of the General public on matters of insurance and also provide the needed support to the Ghana Insurance College to enable it to train persons Insurance Industry.

Another distinct provision is that it has empowered the Insurance Commission (NIC) to issue permits to foreign insurers to open a contact office to operate in Ghana even though not licenced.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The National Centre for Co-ordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanism Act, 2021 (Act 1070) was passed by Parliament to establish the National Centre for the Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanism to assist the ECOWAS Commission in the timely identification of an emerging crisis in the West African sub-Region and the implementation of an approved crisis response mechanism and related matters.

 The Centre for Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanism is primarily concerned with crime and criminality; governance and human rights; health and pandemics; social, economic and environmental issues; as well as security, terrorism and maritime threats. It was assented to on  September 1, 2021.