Chief Imam urges Muslims to pay taxes

The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Usmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, has asked Muslims to pay their taxes to generate funds for the nation's development initiatives. 

He said he would encourage the nation's imams to use their platforms to inform the Muslim communities about the importance of tax compliance.

He said this through his spokesperson, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu, when a delegation from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) paid the Muslim leader a courtesy call in Accra last Thursday.

The visit was to persuade the Chief Imam to assist the authority in stepping up its tax education efforts.

Sheikh Sharubutu said "the country's economic stability rested on paying our taxes", emphasising the significance of tax payment for national progress.

In order to reach the domestic revenue objective, he stated that everyone must pay taxes. He also promised the cooperation of Muslims to help the Authority raise awareness of tax compliance.

"We consider paying taxes to be a civic and national obligation.

"We will encourage Muslims to pay their taxes in order to support our domestic revenue growth," he stated.

In order to increase the public's trust and confidence, he urged the Authority to assist in ensuring responsibility from the money collected.

The Commissioner of the Customs Division of GRA, Brigadier-General Zibrim Bawah Ayorrogo, claimed that the authority was dedicated to making sure that citizens received tax education, which was why the visit was significant.

"We need the religious bodies to support our activities to raise revenue for the country because we know that those who are faithful will heed the dictates of the Quoran and pay their taxes," he stated.

Although he acknowledged that paying taxes was difficult, he expressed the hope that the Chief Imam's authority would persuade the Muslim faithful to recognise the importance of tax compliance.

He emphasised that this was essential since tax compliance and education were crucial to raising money for the nation's advancement.

He reaffirmed the Authority's commitment to stepping up tax education initiatives to help the public understand the voluntary necessity of fulfilling their tax responsibilities.

The Commissioner of the  Support Service Division of the GRA, Dr Alex Adomako- Mensah, in an interview with the media, underlined the need for paying taxes and stated that "we need to up our taxes to move forward as a nation, as without taxes we cannot develop like other nations."

According to him, every tax money received goes towards government expenditures for economic reform.

Dr  Adomako-Mensah gave the populace his word that taxes would be collected in order to guarantee the nation had enough money.

Some goods were offered by GRA to help Muslims during their Ramadan fast.

Fifty packs of bottled water, six packs of carbonated soda drinks, five cartons of oil, six cartons of tomato paste and one hundred bags of rice were among the products.

The delegations at GRA were commended by the National Chief Imam for their assistance to the Muslim community, particularly during their time of fasting.

He prayed for wisdom, health and strength so that they could lead their organisations' operations.

He also prayed for harmony and peace in Ghana, hoping that there would never be another war or struggle between generations.