President of Groupe Nduom (GN), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has called on individuals, institutions and multinational companies to develop the attitude of regularly filing their income tax.
Citing the United States of America (USA) as an example, where April 15 every year is declared a special day for filing of remittances, including their President and other top officials, he urged Ghanaian leaders, to do same.
He said this when he served as the chairman of one of the discussions at the 5th Annual International Tax Conference held in Accra on Wednesday, August 19, 2015.
Dr. Nduom noted that there are still loopholes in revenue collection in Ghana, be it Corporate Tax – paid by companies on their profits in the year, which is 25% currently, or Personal Income Tax – required of self-employed persons at graduated rates in four equal installments or Pay As You Earn (PAYE) – being withholdings from salaries of employees in order to satisfy their income tax responsibilities.
The renowned businessman mentioned that discipline was what “we needed to ensure that tax collection became effective.”
“Filing income tax is not voluntary, but a must in every economy whether big or small,” Dr. Nduom said, adding that he filed his first income tax in 1971, something that he still does.
Dr. Nduom also revealed that he pays his income tax twice every year, both in Ghana and in the USA.
He stated that like his company – Groupe Nduom, tax was what they always treated with utmost seriousness and discipline, as they always paid promptly.
He advocated for more stringent measures to be put in place to ensure that individuals and businesses did not evade taxes.
“The laws and the system must be seen working relentlessly to build the economy,” he noted.
In Ghana currently, there are income tax, gift tax, stamp duty, capital gain tax, rent tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), mineral royalties, VAT flat rate scheme and many more, which he mentioned, if explored thoroughly, neither the International Monetary Fund (IMF) nor the World Bank would have to intervene in the country’s economy.
For his personal contribution to ensure that tax collection goes on effectively in the country, the business mogul asked the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) anytime it wants to hold a programme on taxation to use his Coconut Grove Regency Hotel for free of charge.
He believed that education is the key in ensuring that Ghana achieves its tax targets.
He also asserted that Transfer Pricing (TP) was an area that “we must critically be considering as a country.”
“There are so many businesses that operate with little or no income tax filed, though it is not voluntary,” Dr. Nduom stated.
He therefore advised business owners and authorities to operate on a common ground so as to minimize the headache of tax collection and payment in the country.
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