We'll widen tax net - Mahama

Ghana’s President, John Mahama, has said his government is determined to expand the tax net in Ghana in order to rake in more revenue for infrastructural development.

Mr. Mahama said the poor attitude of Ghanaians toward the payment of taxes makes it difficult for the government to speed up development of the critical infrastructural areas of the country.

He expressed the concerns on Friday May 31, 2013 when he met the Ghanaian community in Japan ahead of the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

According to him, services and infrastructure can only be provided through taxes.

“A lot of our people don’t make a link between the taxes they pay and the services that government should give them, but we are doing our best to expand the tax net to make sure that more people come into the tax net”.

He said: “…Everybody’s little contribution from the income we earn is what will make our country a great place”.

President Mahama also called on Ghanaians to desist from the politicisation of national issues and support the government to succeed.