The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has held a tax sensitisation programme for traders at the Tema Community One Market on the need to promptly file their monthly tax returns for accountability.
The staff interacted with the market women on the need to pay their taxes and comply with the law governing tax payments.
The GRA also used the platform to sensitise them to its new online portal for tax payment and good governance practices.
The Greater Accra East Area Director in charge of Domestic Tax Revenue, GRA, Assistant Commissioner, Joseph Asare, highlighted the importance of filing tax returns promptly to avoid sanctions.
Mr Asare said as part of the strategic direction of GRA, the Authority had decided to create awareness among trade associations and individuals on the importance of filing their returns, paying taxes and complying with the law.
“We have decided to engage at the local level by deepening the relationship and visiting trade associations, market women, clubs, etc. to ensure that we are able to expand the tax net.” He said.
Mr Asare opined that by engaging the traders, the authority hoped to expand the tax net to ensure that everyone contributed, adding that “it would help in improving the revenue generation of the country.
“The tax burden is just on a few people, so this is a way of deepening the awareness and widening the net for more people to enter so that we can expand the tax base,“ he said.
The Tema Community One Taxpayer Service Centre Office Manager, Lydia Owusu Banahene, educated the women on the benefits of paying their taxes, which included infrastructure development, the construction of schools, health facilities, and other interventions undertaken by the government.
He said the authority had made transactions with their clients convenient and easy by the introduction of the online portal, and therefore, encouraged the traders to pay taxes online.
Motivation
The Vice-Chairman of the Tema Community One Central Market Association, Philip Kwesi Kyei, encouraged the GRA staff in Tema to regularly visit markets to educate the traders on the need to pay taxes to develop the country.
He said informal workers and businesses did not pay income tax in the same way as formal ones but with regular sensitisation, traders would be motivated to file their returns, initiate payments, apply for refunds, undertake cashless policies and perform other transactions without walking to GRA offices.
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