TORKORNOO (MRS.) JSC:-
BACKGROUND
This reference to the Supreme Court was sent by the Court of Appeal, Kumasi. The plaintiff/appellant (referred to as the appellant in this ruling) before the court of appeal is a lawyer who was given a tax assessment to pay in 2017. He objected to it and following various communications with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), paid what was determined to be his outstanding taxes from 2012 to 2016 inclusive of 30% of the tax in dispute and a sum computed as penalty. In 2017 and 2018, he was suspended from law practice by the General Legal Council and in June 2019, he applied to the GRA for a tax clearance certificate (TCC). GRA demanded information on his client account, utility and medical expenses and all returns of income for 2018 and 2019. His response was that he did not engage in legal practice over the years 2017 and 2018. The counter response of GRA was that unless the documents requested were supplied, the tax objection by Plaintiff could not be…