Reverend Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has emphasized the importance of the Authority's Tax and Good Governance month celebration in revenue mobilisation.
He said the celebration was key as it aimed at creating awareness among the citizens on the importance of taxes and encouraging them to honour their tax obligations to the state for accelerated socio-economic development.
Dr Owusu-Amoah said this in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Samuel K. Foli, Sector Commander of GRA, Custom Division, Ho Collection, during the launch of Tax and Good Governance month in Ho.
The Commissioner-General said GRA was focusing on the use of digital tools to aid compliance with the expected results of increasing revenue mobilisation for the development of the country.
Dr Owusu-Amoah said the theme: “Filing Your Tax Returns Online, The Convenient Way” was apt as innovative ways including online filing was currently used to mobilise revenue.
He mentioned Electronic VAT, E-commerce, Tax filing App and Tax compliance status as other initiatives the Authority was rolling out to widen the tax net and make tax payment easier and convenient for taxpayers.
The Commissioner-General urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the various initiatives to file their tax returns with the Authority to support the nation's quest for rapid development.
Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, in a speech read by Mr Divine Bosson, Ho Municipal Chief Executive also underscored the need for every income earner to honour his or her tax obligations to the state to enhance development.
He said as a middle-income country which must be self-reliant, no income earner must remain outside the tax net, because with the middle-income status, the country cannot benefit from certain donor supports for its development activities.
Dr Letsa said over the years, there were calls for successive governments to wean the country off donor funding and be self-reliant, so the development of the country depended to a considerable extent on the taxes.
He said every tax, no matter how little it might be, counted, urging all income earners to endeavour to contribute their fair share of taxes into the national coffers to support the nation's development agenda.
The Minister said he had no doubt that GRA was committed to changing the story through challenging work and the deployment of the necessary strategies.
He assured Management and Staff of GRA in the Region of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council's (VRCC) cooperation and support in ensuring that their efforts yielded the much-desired result.
Dr Letsa said necessary efforts were being made to ensure that the number of people and organisations in the Region paying taxes increased resulting in a substantial increment in the Region's share of national taxpayers.
The Minister called on other relevant authorities to assist the GRA in deepening awareness creation for the nation to raise more revenue to carry out development projects to better the lives of the citizens.
Mr Divine Bosson, Ho Municipal Chief Executive used the occasion to file his tax returns and called on all taxpayers to pay their taxes.
The Income Tax Act (Act 896) and the Revenue Administration Act (Act 915) adjoined taxpayers to file their tax returns with the Commissioner-General, not later than four months after the year of assessment return of income for the year.
The month of April is set aside to increase awareness among individuals and organizations on the importance of filing tax returns, complying with tax laws and paying taxes.
