Taxation is a development tool – Letsa

Company News on Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-04-09

Archibald Yao Letsa, regional minister for the Volta, said that taxation remains the main effective tool on which countries rely to mobilize revenue for national development.

He added that as Ghana engaged in the development agenda, it was therefore imperative that rigorous and decisive steps be taken to raise enough taxes to finance development projects such as hospitals, markets , school buildings and good roads.

Dr. Letsa spoke at the second launch of the Tax Administration and Good Governance Week and Tax Clinic of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in collaboration with the Ministry's Tax Policy Unit. finance on this theme; "Produce your tax returns, pay your taxes, move Ghana beyond the help" in Ho.

The minister said filing tax returns was a civic responsibility, hence the need for all to commit to "meet the aspirations of development".

He stated that the Income Tax Act, 2015 (ACT 896) and the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (ACT 915) required any eligible person to file an income tax with the Income Tax Act. the Commissioner-General no later than four months after the end of each year. Thus, the tax return was not only a civic responsibility, but also a requirement of the law.

Mr. Kwame Owusu Bamfo, head of the average taxpayers office at the Authority, said the program was aimed primarily at attracting public attention to the importance of the tax return and benefits. that the country could withdraw from these declarations.

He said that citizens would be better able to claim a fair share of the national pie only if they were effectively contributing to the payment of taxes and the filing of tax returns.

Mr. Bamfo said that, in accordance with the obligations set forth in Article 41 (j) of the 1992 Constitution, every citizen must "honestly declare his income to the competent and legal bodies to meet all his tax obligations", d & #. 39, where the production of his annual returns and payments were statutory and constitutional obligations "not a question of choice".

He added that the GRA had developed an application system called the Integrated Tax Preparation and Presentation System (iTaPS), which allowed taxpayers to easily file their tax returns in the comfort of their own homes.

Mr. Bamfo stated that the iTaPS had nine modules, including: Annual Tax Returns, Tax Discharge Certificate, Credit Certificate for Withholding Tax, Credit Certificate for VAT withholding Tax, withholding tax exemption. source, monthly and annual returns PAYE, personal tax breaks, decision support system for self-badessment and management of commercial documents phases.

As part of its quest to digitize its processes and leverage technology to improve tax administration, the Authority will soon launch an electronic payment platform for informal sector operators, such as: commercial transport operators and self-employed small-scale operators. Tax stamp to pay their quarterly taxes with mobile money in cooperation with banks.

Bamfo said the Authority would soon begin prosecuting those who failed to submit their annual tax returns on time and called for cooperation.