Panelists of the Centre for Democratic Development’s (CDD) roundtable discussion have assigned reasons to why some Ghanaians and businesses in the country evade taxes and are not compliant to the country’s tax laws.
Speaking on the subject Taxation and Accountability in Ghana, the panelists attributed the lack of accountability, embezzlement of public funds, and abuse of tax exemptions as some of the key factors influencing tax evasion and lack of tax compliance.
According to the panelists, tax accountability is the surest way for government to encourage citizens to pay their taxes to contribute towards national development.
Speaking at the roundtable discussion, Hon. Kwaku Kwarteng, Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee and Member of Parliament (MP)
for Obuasi West, stressed the importance of being transparent and accountable to citizens on how tax revenues are spent.
“It is important for us to hold government and public office holders accountable when it comes to taxation because citizens need to know that the monies they pay to the state by way of taxes are being put to good use,” he said.
The former Deputy Finance Minister encouraged businesses, individuals and the general public to honour their tax obligations to boost the internally generated revenue needed to address the developmental needs of the country.
The roundtable discussion was organised by the CDD on the back of the findings from Afrobarometer’s Round 8 survey conducted in 2019 which indicate that although majority of Ghanaians (72%) are willing to pay more in taxes to help finance the country’s development from domestic resources, a similar proportion (70%) say they find it “difficult” or “very difficult” getting information about what the government does with taxes it collects.
CDD-Ghana’s roundtable discussions provide an avenue and the space for well-informed reflections and conversations on various topics of national interest.
The discussion on ‘Taxation and Accountability in Ghana’ which is the fourth in the series of roundtables to be organized this year, forms part of the Center’s commitment to ensuring inclusive development by educating citizens on taxation and encouraging the demand for government accountability on tax expenditure, while advocating for tax reforms.
