News:
May 21, 2018
The first Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu said, those who evade tax are nation wreckers since taxes mobilized by any government are used for nation building.
According to the Bekwai legislator, the media is a very useful medium to use in propagating the message for Ghanaians to know and understand their responsibilities and pay the appropriate taxes.
He admonished the media to let their loyalty and bias towards every Ghanaian paying his taxes show in their presentations and added that sometime when the media is reporting on taxes is like some cynical presentation.
Sometimes some of you would put out information which denigrate the information you are putting out yourself, in this case on all matters that relate to taxes you should show pointed bias in favor of every Ghanaian paying his or her taxes, he emphasized.
Mr. Joseph Osei-Owusu further revealed that when Tax Identification Number (TIN) is discussed without linking it up with nation building Ghanaians would not understand.
Discussion on TIN should point out that every Ghanaian who earn some income contribute to the poll, from which we build the nation, therefore any Ghanaian who does not obtain TIN and pay his or her taxes is a nation “wrecker”, he said.
He made this remarks over the weekend when the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) organised a workshop for members of the Parliamentary press corps over the weekend at Prampram.
In other jurisdictions if you are identified as someone who does not pay his or her taxes, when you go out to sit at a restaurant no one wants to sit by you, because you do not want the country to progress, even your friends would not come to you because you are a nation “wrecker”, the first Deputy Speaker said.
“That is the orientation we need to put out there to Ghanaians and added that people pay tithe at church because the pastors spend a lot of time making them feel like sinners if they do not make their contributions”.
By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com