17 million voters in Ghana but only 1.3 million tax payers in Ghana!!!

When the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa was “…Today we can all be proud of a brand-new Biometric Voter Register that reflects unique individuals who are eligible to vote.

With determination and focus, we were able to prepare a register that recorded Seventeen million and twenty-seven thousand, six hundred and forty-one (17,027,641) eligible voters in just 38 days…”

Now that the electoral Commission has got a reliable register for all voters in Ghana, the taxation division of Revenue Ghana should have no problem collecting all legitimate PERSONAL taxes, which all citizens have to pay.

Every Ghanaian citizen (NO EXCEPTION WHATSOEVER) has an obligation to pay taxes to be used by the Government to run the affairs of the country. Responsible citizens in DEVELOPED countries fulfil this obligation.

Legislation must be passed to request all voters to file personal income tax return forms every year to declare their income. The tax department must process at least 17 million tax returns instead of the 1 million that is now being processed. A definite date must be set as the deadline for filing income tax returns. The sixth of March would be a good date. This should remind Ghanaians that independence comes with responsibility to pay taxes.

All employers must be required to deduct income tax on all salaries paid. The deducted amount must be forwarded to the tax department. At the end of the tax year low-income earners must get refund cheques based on the percentage of tax applicable.

The Government has an obligation to take tax collection SERIOUSLY now. All developed countries depend on taxes to run the country.

Perhaps it is necessary to launch a SPECIAL CAMPAIGN to convince Ghanaians that tax payments should be considered as inevitable if we really want Ghana to become a DEVELOPED country instead of a DEVELOPING country.

In 2018, a prominent Ghanaian, Elizabeth Ohene wrote an article entitled:

‘How to get Ghanaians to Pay Their Taxes” She wrote:

“There is a saying attributed to founding father, Benjamin Franklin that there are only two certainties in life, death and taxes.”

Over here in Ghana we accept the death bit and make a big deal of it, but we are not too certain about the taxes. We don’t like paying taxes and the tax people themselves have not been particularly keen on collecting taxes from us. So, we all amble on and pretend to be running and living in a modern state.”

She continued: “…There are almost 30 million Ghanaians, but only 1.5 million are registered to pay taxes, and, apparently, just 1.3 million of them actually pay income tax.

In May 2019, the minister of finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta stated:

“FOR FAR TOO LONG WE HAVE IGNORED THE IMPORTANCE OF

A BROAD TAX BASE FOR GHANA’S DEVELOPMENT.

WE HAVE NEGLECTED THE INFORMAL SECTOR

IN OUR ATTEMPT OF BOOSTING DOMESTIC REVENUE MOBILIZATION.

GOVERNMENT IN THE PAST ACCEPTED THAT

MOBILIZING TAXES FROM THE INFORMAL

SECTOR WAS DIFFICULT AND VERY EXPENSIVE.”

The minister also stated:

“There are many lawyers out there, accountants, respectable consultants, Ph.D. holders, big businessmen, who simply refuse to declare their incomes. They have the resources and knowledge to make their fair contribution but simply refuse to pay their taxes and yet will SHOUT THE LOUDEST on social media and any given forum about how government is failing in delivering public services.

Such men and women are all around us, unfortunately.”

In December 2014, the Okyenhene Amoatia Ofori Panin made a statement, which every responsible and patriotic Ghanaian should ponder:

“So when you have homes built in East Legon

And you know that you didn’t earn the money,

You didn’t make the right investment

You didn’t sell the right commodity

You didn’t PAY YOUR TAXES

And you have two homes

Because you were involved in this acquisition

Of material wealth without any consequences

To the rest of society,

You should not feel good”

Is it true that presidents of Ghana are exempted from paying income tax? If it is true then it’s a MAJOR ANOMALY, which must be corrected immediately. No citizen should be exempted from paying income tax. Presidents of the U.S.A. pay income tax. In the 2010 Tax Year President Obama and his wife Michelle paid $45,000 in federal taxes and $52,000 in Illinois State taxes. This information is available on the internet. During the 2016 U.S. election, Hillary declared the income tax paid by the Clintons on her website. Ghanaian Presidents must follow this remarkable example and declare their income taxes paid. It will be very good for the presidents to reveal their income taxes a day before the national budget is read in parliament. This will probably encourage Ghanaians to know that taxes must be paid for development to go on.

Before I emigrated to Canada, I was NOT “Tax Conscious”. Now I am. On my just moderate retirement income, I paid an income tax of $5265.68 to the federal and Provincial governments for the 2019 Tax Year. My wife also paid a similar amount for her income tax. For our small 1200 sq. ft. bungalow, we paid $3187.27 property tax to the City of Edmonton.

In DEVELOPED countries, the government depends on the taxes of ordinary citizens to function efficiently. There is no magical way for any government to get funds for necessary projects. Income tax and property taxes are not the only taxes. There are many more taxes:

Goods and Services Tax ( G.S.T.)

Sales Tax (S.T.)

Hotel Room Tax (H.R.T.) etc.

May 2021 be the year when most patriotic Ghanaians will accept the fact that without paying fair taxes to the government the country will NEVER attain the status of a DEVELOPED country. If we accept our responsibility of tax payment NOW, then we can expect to be considered as a fully “DEVELOPED COUNTRY” by 2030.

God bless Ghana !!!