NCCE Intensifies Tax Education in Builsa North District

By Peter Atogewe Wedam

The Builsa North District office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has completed its second phase of public education campaigns on tax compliance.

The campaigns which mainly targeted the informal sector took the NCCE team to major market centres across the district during which several women were reached with the message.

This move by the NCCE formed part of the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA) efforts to generate adequate revenues in order to help Government finance the national budget as well as reduce over-reliance on foreign donors for Ghana's development needs.

The Acting District Director of the NCCE, Mr. Jeffrey Adda, disclosed to the ISD that, the GRA after realising through surveys that many Ghanaians and majority of the business community were not captured by the tax net, contracted the NCCE to undertake the public tax education exercise.He further disclosed that, his outfit carried out the first phase of the campaigns in the last quarter of 2017 and that, it was based on a satisfactory outcome that the GRA offered them the second assignment.

Mr. Adda said his office completed the second phase of the campaigns a few days ago and gave the assurance that the tax education message has actually gotten to the grass roots. According to him, tax payment was a civic responsibility of every Ghanaian, adding that Ghanaians should feel proud to honour their tax obligation and persuade their neighbours to do same.

He said apart from the targeted market women and shop owners, the NCCE also had meaningful engagements with various trade associations and business groups, some Faith Based Organisations including churches and mosques, artisans, Women Groups and other entrepreneurs in Sandema and its environs.

Mr Adda advised businesses to register with the GRA office and get abreast of the appropriate taxes they were supposed to pay. He said regular payment of taxes was far better than delaying to pay or the total evasion of taxes since one might suffer stiffer financial penalties when eventually caught.

He noted that governments around the world relied massively on taxation to develop their economies and that Ghana as a sovereign nation, could not afford to lag behind.

Read Full Story