A legal practitioner, Jonathan A. Alua, has sued the Attorney General and the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority over the authority’s power to determine GRA passenger baggage exemptions from customs duties and taxes.
The suit, filed under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, challenges Regulation 18(2)(b) of the Exemptions Regulations, 2025, also known as L.I. 2514.
Mr Alua is asking the Court to declare the provision unconstitutional, arguing that it gives the GRA Commissioner General the power to waive or vary taxes without prior parliamentary approval.
Article 174 at centre of dispute
According to the plaintiff, Article 174(2) of the 1992 Constitution requires any waiver or variation of a tax in favour of individuals or authorities to receive prior approval through a resolution of Parliament.
He argues that the power granted under Regulation 18(2)(b) to determine the quantity of passenger baggage exempt from customs duties and taxes amounts to an exercise of that constitutional power.
The lawyer is therefore asking the Supreme Court to declare the regulation inconsistent with the Constitution to the extent that it permits the Commissioner General or officers of the Customs Division to grant or refuse baggage exemptions on a case by case basis without prior parliamentary approval.
Plaintiff seeks restraint order
Mr Alua is also seeking an order restraining the GRA from exercising the disputed power until the requirements of Article 174(2) have been satisfied.
Alternatively, he wants the Court to recognise that the power may be exercised only if Parliament passes a resolution under Article 174(3) exempting it from the prior approval requirement.
He has further asked the Supreme Court to issue any additional orders it considers necessary to give effect to the declarations being sought.
The plaintiff is also seeking costs.
The Attorney General and the GRA Commissioner General are required to file their respective statements of case within 14 days after being served with the plaintiff’s statement of case.
The case could determine how passenger baggage exemptions are administered and whether such decisions can be made by the revenue authority without a specific parliamentary resolution.
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