Obinim sues GRA in court for directly deducting payments from its bank accounts due to tax evasion

General News of Monday, July 15, 2019

Source: starrfm.com.gh

2019-07-15

Godsway International Bishop Bishop Daniel Obinim has sued the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for what he calls an illegal lien placement on his Fidelity Bank account.

The GRA seized the pastor's account due to non-payment of rent taxes on a block of twenty-one stores located in Tema, which he uses as a guest house.

Counsel for the applicant, Ralph Poku-Adusei, in a statement filed on behalf of Bishop Obinim, is seeking nine remedies from the Court. Among these are "a statement that the plaintiff has paid all the taxes owed and demanded by the first defendant [GRA] the Applicant in respect of the rental taxes payable on the twenty-one (21) stores for the period 2014 to 2018 and that; he must not, in taxes, the sum of seven hundred and sixty-nine thousand, ninety-five Ghanaian cedis, eighty-seven Pesesewas (769,095.87 GHC) which would represent the taxes on the rents payable to the Bloc des Twenty one ".

In addition, Bishop Obinim requested "an order striking and / or striking out the notice of garnishment issued at 10:00 am on June 27, 2019, by the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority; 1st defendant below, directed against 2nd defendant [Fidelity Bank] to pay to the first respondent the sum of seven hundred and sixty-nine thousand and ninety-five Ghanaian cedis, eighty-seven Pesese (769,095.87 GHC) as illegal ".

The Bishop further requests that a "perpetual injunction order forbidding the second defendant [Fidelity Bank] place a lien on the applicant's bank accounts and pay the funds held in the applicant's bank accounts and term deposits to the first respondent under the garnishment notice issued at 10:00 am on June 27, 2019 by the Commissioner General of Ghana Tax Authority, 1st respondent and in respect of any future notice of garnishment concerning the same rents, as the taxes payable on the block of twenty-one (21) stores for the period of 2014 to 2018 and the payment of any value-added tax (VAT) due and payable by Abroso Guest House Limited (if any) without recourse to a court order ".

In addition, Bishop Obinim asks for "an order against the second accused [Fidelity Bank] remove any liens and / or encumbrances placed on the applicant's funds in his bank accounts and all other fixed deposit investments held with the second defendant and make all / the same available to the plaintiff as well as the punitive damages against the first defendant for illegal issuance of the notice of garnishment.

On December 18, 2018, Ghana's tax authority wrote to Bishop Obinim asking him to pay the amount of GHP 719,890.00 corresponding to the tax payable. According to the statements of 18 December 2018, the Ghana Tax Administration wrote to Bishop Obinim asking him to pay the amount of 719,890.00 GHc due. According to the GRA, 28,990.00 GHc represent rent taxes for the period 2014 to 2018 on a block of twenty-one (21) stores located in Tema and belonging to Bishop Daniel Obinim and 690,900 , 00 GHc remaining indicated by the GRA. The total Value Added Tax (VAT) charged for the period from January 1, 2016 to July 31, 2018 is derived from the commercial activities of Abroso Guest House Limited, a separate limited liability company that is not managed by Bishop Obinim.

The Complainant states, however, that prior to the publication of the aforementioned letter of request dated 8 December 2018; on or about July 2018, on the intervention of the Office of the fight against organized and economic crime (GRA), GRA carried out its audit and its evaluation of the same rents as the taxes to pay on the same block Twenty-one blocks of stores in Tema and the Abroso guest house must verify the accuracy and reliability of the applicants' income tax returns for the relevant periods, from 2014 to 2018.

As a result of this audit, the GRA concluded with Bishop Obinim that the Applicant's tax payable for the period from 2014 to 2018 for rents from the block of 21 store units was 39,555, 00 GHc and more; Abroso Guest House is a separate entity not under the direct control of Bishop Obinim.

Subsequently, all rent taxes due and due were paid and receipts from taxpayers of the Ghana Revenue Authority, nine in number (9), were issued accordingly. It was therefore surprising that Fidelity Bank refused him access to his funds on 3 June 2019, while he was trying to access it because it had received a notice of formal notice in the form of A garnishment issued by the Commissioner General of the GRA forcing them to prevent him from accessing his personal funds of some 769,095.87 GHc.

At the first sitting of July 12, 2019, the lawyers of the GRA did not oppose Bishop Obinim's request, but rather sought leave of the Court to file their own motion to strike the application. Bishop Obinim. . The Court decided that the parties were to return to the Court on July 24, 2019 for GRA to grant their request as he had requested.