The government is urged to amend the tax avoidance law

Business news for Friday, September 18, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-09-18

The government has been asked to allow Parliament to amend the provisions of the Tax Avoidance Act, to serve as a tool to end tax avoidance and promote tax justice.

The Upper East regional branch of the Coalition for Tax Justice – Ghana made the call at a forum in Bolgatanga, as part of World Tax Justice Week 2020.

The Coalition pointed out that when the government modifies the provisions of the Law, it would also accelerate and strengthen the generation of higher income for the country’s development.

“Tax avoidance is considered morally dubious, causes great loss to a nation and affects its development, so there is an urgent need for the government to implement strategies and stop the situation.”

The forum was organized by the Upper East Regional Chapter of the Ghana Tax Justice Coalition (TJC-Ghana) and sponsored by the Open Society Institute for West Africa (OSIWA).

It attracted members of the coalition from Civil Society Organizations, People with Disabilities (PWD), Tailors and Garment Manufacturers Association, Woodworkers Association, Agricultural Value Chain Actors, Market Women and Cattle Traders, among others.

The Coalition noted that there were many business people in the informal sector who were not paying taxes and called on the Ghana Revenue Authority to intensify public education, to encourage traders in the sector to meet their tax obligations.

The group expressed concern about the difficulties companies in the region face when filing their tax returns because they had to travel to Tamale in the Northern Region to do so and said it defeated the principle of convenience of filing taxes and could serve as a great disincentive.

The Coalition urged the Ghana Revenue Authority to decentralize the Medium Taxpayers Unit to the Upper East Region to help reduce inconvenience and increase revenue mobilization.

Alhaji Ahmed Awal Kariama, regional coordinator of the Ghana Tax Justice Coalition, who facilitated the forum, said the goal of the coalition was to ensure mutual benefit for citizens and government in the collection and administration of taxes and urged the tax revenue mobilization agencies. Plugging the many loopholes associated with revenue mobilization at the local assembly levels and national tax revenue units.

He implored the District Assemblies and the Ghana Revenue Authority to pay particular attention to leakage in tax collection and build robust data from the informal sector to ensure that more people are captured in Tax Net.

He said that the Coalition had been supporting the government at both the local and national levels by regularly organizing events such as conducting strategic research and developing policy proposals and developing policy and publicity materials to promote Tax Justice.