The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has asked Ghanaians to appreciate voluntary tax compliance as a civic responsibility.
Mr. Samuel Kwasi Otchere, the Asante-Akim South Municipal Director of the Commission, said it should not be lost on anybody that paying their taxes was vital to the building of a prosperous and self-reliant nation.
He added that it was the way forward to generate revenue to fund the development of the country – build roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure.
He was addressing members of the Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, a women group of the Juaso St. Andrew Catholic Church, during a tax education campaign at Juaso.
The campaign is being jointly undertaken by the NCCE and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Mr. Otchere said it was time people moved away from the practice, where they had to be chased to their workplaces by tax collectors, and voluntarily walk to the tax offices to honor their tax obligation.
They should accept to pay to the state whatever was due it, however, meagre it might be, he added.
Mr. Patrick Asare, a Civil Education Officer, called for entrepreneurs to register their businesses to enable the GRA to tax them appropriately.
He also encouraged individuals to apply for Tax Identification Number (TIN) from the GRA, to help broaden the tax net.
He talked everybody out of colluding with tax collectors to shortchange the nation and reminded them that tax evasion was a serious crime.
Mrs. Victoria Danso, President of the Group, advised the members to honor their tax obligations as Christians to show the way for others to follow.
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