Traders urged to pay taxes

Story : Gifty Bamfo & Jennifer Dornoo
THE Principal Inspector of Taxes at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Mr Bobie Ansah, has urged traders, particularly those in the small-scale category to pay their income taxes regularly to contribute to nation building.
“Paying tax is compulsory and the government expects everyone to pay their taxes, because these moneys are used in undertaking development projects,” he said.
Mr Ansah said this at a seminar organised by the Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) of the Accra Polytechnic in Accra.
The seminar, which was on the theme: “Building capacity of SMEs through tax education”, was attended by participants from the Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association, the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs (GAWE) and the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association.
Mr Ansah said taxes were used in payment of salaries, maintenance of law and order, among other things, adding that ”most people who do not pay taxes are quick to blame the government when they do not benefit from development projects in their areas”.
He said business owners were to notify the IRS when they were changing their business addresses, opening more branches or ceasing to operate their businesses.
“Before you start any business, make sure you register with the IRS to enable us take account of your business activities,” he said.
Aside that, Mr Ansah said it was necessary for business owners to have a tax clearance certificate which would be issued by the commissioner of IRS to a person stating that he/she did not owe tax within a specified period or that satisfactory arrangement had been made for its payment.
He said circumstances for which one needed a tax clearance certificate included clearance of goods in commercial quantities from ports or businesses, registration of land and bidding for government contracts.
Mr Ansah advised the small-scale enterprises (SMEs) to maintain proper records and accounts of their businesses to ensure that they paid the right tax to the government, adding that “this way, we would avoid acts that may result in loss of tax revenues to the state”.
The President of SIFE, Ms Lydia Amponsah, said the seminar sought to sensitise the SMEs on the need to pay taxes and the benefits that would be derived thereof.
“Most people don’t feel obliged to pay tax, because they do not understand what taxes are and into what use the nation puts them,” she said.
She added that the programmes would also educate the SMEs on the need to practise regular book-keeping.