GRA/NCCE intensify tax education in gold mining town

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has upped tax education in the gold mining town of Obuasi to get everybody to honor their tax obligations.

The tax officials have been working together with the Obuasi Municipal office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to encourage voluntary compliance.

They have deepened the engagement with the various trade associations and are also using the local radio stations and community information centres to reach out to the people – help them to understand why they should pay their taxes.

Speaking at one of such meetings with the Obuasi Hairdressers and Beauticians Association, Mr. Yemoh Odoi, Deputy Manager of GRA, Obuasi Small Taxpayer Office, complained about the failure of many of its members to pay tax on their earnings.

That, he said, needed to change to enable the government generate enough revenue to finance the nation’s infrastructure development – construct roads, build schools and hospitals among others things.

Mr. Emmanuel Duah Attobrah, the Obuasi Municipal Director of NCCE, said paying tax was a civic responsibility.

"As citizens, we are obliged to pay tax. Anybody, who fails to pay tax on his or her income, cannot claim to be a good citizen”, he added.

He therefore asked all to make sure that they cooperated with the tax collection officers to achieve the government’s revenue target.