As part of continued efforts to create awareness about the importance of paying taxes, the Society of Women in Taxation (SWIT), in partnership with the Ghana Revenue Authority, visited the Mallam Atta Market in the Greater Accra Region on April 24, 2024, to educate the trading community on taxation-related matters.
Speaking to the media after the event, the newly appointed Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Julie Essiam, repeated the significance of players in the informal sector contributing to the tax payment.
She stated that the government depends largely on taxes to be able to undertake developmental projects in the country.
She disabused the minds of the traders that taxes paid are misused by the government, explaining that it is the taxes a few people pay in this country that the government has been able to introduce and sustain its flagship programmes like the Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy and deliver various infrastructural projects.
The first female Commissioner-General disclosed that in the calendar of the GRA, the month of April has been designated a “taxation and good governance month,” and as such, the GRA is leveraging on it to build collaboration and foster partnerships with the relevant stakeholders, including tax payers.
She noted that the GRA is not only interested in collecting taxes from the informal sector but is committed to collaborating with them to demystify the payment of taxes, as most of them are not familiar with the subject.
“Tax payers are not only for companies; tax payers are you and me; tax payers are the informal sector; the informal sector is a very significant part of our population, so today we came here to collaborate as the authority that collects taxes with our tax payers in this market to help them understand taxation. Taxation is a thing that most people do not understand; our goal is to demystify the payment of taxes.”
Ms. Essiam expressed satisfaction with the successful collaboration and the lessons learned from traders, emphasising the ease and comfort of tax payment for them.
“You’ll see that through our interaction with them, we as tax collectors have also learned so much from them, so this collaboration is not only about GRA actually giving the education but also about how we learn from them to make such payments very simple and easy for them. We have achieved that goal today, so we have become a family between us and the taxpayers,” she said.
She disclosed further that they are not stopping with educating the masses on taxes, as they will be invading the streets soon to sensitise all and sundry about the importance of taxes.
“We will hit all markets; we will hit the informal sector, those on the streets selling on the traffic lights; they are a very important part of our taxation system. Also, from today’s conversation, the traders know now what their taxes are used for,” she stated.
The president of SWIT, Esi Duma Sam, disclosed that officials of GRA will henceforth have little difficulty mobilising funds for the government through the informal sector. This, according to her, is because marketers and traders have understood the reason for filing their taxes.
She observed that because the majority of the traders are women, it will aid the efforts of SWIT in educating them about taxes as women are effective managers, even in the formal sector, and will ensure that taxes are duly filed and paid.
Madam Sam advised the traders against not filing their tax returns, providing all manner of excuses, such as not understanding why they must file their tax returns.
According to her, the zeal of wanting to file one’s tax returns started way back in the Bible days when Jesus Himself taught His followers to give what belongs to Caesar to Caesar and what belongs to God to God, adding that they shouldn’t therefore say that once they have paid their tithes and other relevant expenses, they wouldn’t pay their taxes because all the major development they presently see is a result of taxes generated from the formal sector only.
“So as you go out there, I urge that you go preach the good news you have heard today. I hope you want to continue to live in this country. Let the people out there know that the nation of Ghana belongs to us all, a land that our forefathers toiled for, and that it is time for us to continue from where they left. As it has become relevant that we all come together to forge ahead, we all need to file our tax returns to enable the government to thrive.”
Madam Sam furthered that the SWIT intends to go around the whole of Ghana to educate Ghanaians on the need to file their tax returns, having embarked on a similar exercise at the Madina Market last year.
Journalists went around with the two institutions to observe market-place education. Traders who complained of struggling with filing their returns were assured that assistance would be offered them by the Nima office of the GRA.
In addition, the traders were advised not to deal with any purported GRA official without proper identification or give out physical cash to any GRA official.
*****
Never miss out on the news. Get your valuable breaking news and other vital content by following The Sikaman Times on WhatsApp Channel
*****
