NCCE intensifies tax compliance campaign

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has intensified its tax compliance campaign in the Central Region to enable the government to raise enough revenue locally to support the growth of the country.

The second phase of the campaign was sponsored by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with the objective of increasing national revenue through taxation so that the government would in turn use such funds for the effective and efficient administration of the country.

Through strategies such as field trips, community engagements and dawn and dusk broadcasts, the campaign was carried out among artisans, transport operators, faith-based organisations, women’s groups, economic groups among others in the Agona West Municipality and Agona East District.

Attitudinal change

Addressing the Tipper Truck Drivers Association at Agona Swedru, the Agona West Municipal Director of the NCCE, Mr Sekyi Sam, called on the citizenry to change their attitude towards the payment of their taxes since such monies were accumulated and used to develop the nation.

He noted that the wrong perception of the payment of taxes was a contributory factor to the non-payment of taxes by some Ghanaians, noting that “Ghanaians should change such perceptions and honour their tax obligations to the state to propel its growth”.

He stated that the nation could not aspire to the highest level of development if citizens did not pay their taxes as required to enable the country to achieve such feats and added that “Ghanaians should, therefore, blame themselves for our underdevelopment since a considerable number of us do not religiously pay our taxes”.

He further charged the citizenry to critically demand from those in leadership about how their taxes were being expended so as to motivate them to continue to pay their taxes for development purposes.

According to him, such a move would ensure that the taxes collected were used for the intended purposes for the benefit of the citizenry, stressing that Ghanaians must always demand accountability from those in leadership to ensure that taxes paid were not misappropriated.

He noted that every little tax was important and that Ghanaians should know that such funds were accumulated and were later used to fund the construction of schools, roads, health facilities and other social intervention programmes for the ultimate benefit of the people.

Beyond aid

The Agona East District Director of the NCCE, Mr Joshua Luther Ndoye Upoalkpajor, told members of the Local Council of Churches at Agona Asafo that the nation could wean itself off donor support if it was able to raise a chunk of its revenue locally to drive its progress.