The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has assured Ghanaians that registering for a Tax Payer’s Identification Number (TIN) does not mean paying taxes instantly.

Mr Paul Kwame Darko, Chief Revenue Officer, Tema Medium Tax Office of the GRA, said Ghanaians were expected to pay taxes only after earning an income.

Mr Darko, who was speaking at a business meeting organized by the Tema Regional Chamber of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), said it was about time Ghanaians discarded the notion that registering for the TIN was only to enable government to over tax them.

He said it was the civic responsibility of every citizen to pay taxes to enable government get the needed resources to undertake developmental projects therefore acquiring a TIN was in the right direction.

He indicated that in future, one can receive information on whether taxes deducted on his or her behalf had been paid to government by keying in their TIN.

The Chief Revenue Officer encouraged those who were yet to register to visit any GRA office across the country with photocopies of their identity cards to register for free to obtain their TIN.

He explained that their data would be keyed into the GRA system, which would then generate a unique number which contained all the bio data of the applicant.

He added that registration desks had been set up at the Tema Port, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) offices and the Registrar General’s Department to provide easy access for registration.

The GRA declared that from April one, people without a TIN would not be able to open a bank account, procure a driver’s licence or a passport, initiate a court case or clear goods from the Port among others.