The Head of the Taxpayers Services of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in the Upper East Region, Kwabena Anti Dankwa, has called on individuals and business owners to file their returns and pay their taxes for the development of the country.
He said revenue generation is a fundamental responsibility for the GRA. The revenues generated are to advance development in the country for the benefit of the citizenry, and it is important that people consider it their civil responsibility.
Mr. Dankwa noted that if all individuals cooperated with the GRA and paid their taxes accordingly, the country could have developed to the level of countries in the western world that most citizens desire to visit.
He revealed this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 radio’s Daybreak Upper East Show on the payment of taxes.
According to him “the Ghana Revenue Authority, as a friendly organisation, is there to mobilise revenue for the benefit of all of us, because whatever benefit we drive from the government in the likes of schools, hospitals, and roads is all from the efforts of the GRA”.
He said “The GRA has moved from the era of manual processes and bureaucracy to an era of digitalization where taxpayers do not need to come to the office of the GRA but can simply sit in the comfort of their homes with their smartphones or computers and access the taxpayer portal, file their return, and pay their taxes”.
He said individuals who earn income, have businesses or investments, and corporate organisations were required by law under Act 896 to file their returns within four months after the year ends to know their tax liabilities and be in good standing to get tax clearance.
The Head of the taxpayer’s services indicated that individuals who own businesses were supposed to register with the GRA and pay their taxes, and failure to comply would require the GRA to find them out.
“Failure on the part of the individuals to register with the GRA, file their returns, and pay their taxes would require the Commissioner General to assess that individual upon his own best judgement, and payment would be made based on that.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
