Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has warned Ghanaians who don’t pay their taxes that they would not be able to access public services from next year if they’re unable to present a tax clearance certificate.
Speaking during the 10th Annual International Tax Conference organized by the Chartered Institute of Taxation Ghana, Dr Bawumia revealed that the process of filing and paying taxes has now been made as easy as possible with the launch of the taxpayers portal and an application.
Receiving a tax clearance certificate is now just a matter of going online either to the portal or the app, after which you would be issued your electronic tax clearance certificate.
According to the Veep, in light of the way government has made it so easy to pay your taxes from the comfort of your own home, Ghanaians who refuse to pay their taxes would not be able to access public services from 2023 if they don’t present their tax clearance certificate.
“…Given that we have now made it very easy for anyone to file and pay their taxes, from next year many public services will require the presentation of tax clearance certificates before the services are rendered. This will enhance compliance and therefore domestic revenue mobilization,” Vice President Bawumia said.
The Vice President added that the automated process is not just to enable citizens easily pay their taxes but to also weed out corruption from the tax processing system.
“These automations of repetitive task are aimed at reducing the discretionary use of powers and its attendant alleged corruption by public officials while promoting voluntary compliance and a friendly taxpaying environment,” he emphasized.
Tax Payment Process Automated
The Vice President said the Ghana Revenue Authority, at his direction, have created a fully automated online process of paying taxes and subsequently, being issued with an electronic tax clearance certificate.
The new process would be hassle-free and can be done from the comfort of your home, Bawumia declared, adding he hoped this would make most Ghanaians eager to be tax compliant and enhance domestic revenue generation in the process.
“For the purpose of promoting tax compliance, the Commissioner-General has maintained a system of Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) in accordance with Sections 10 & 11 of the Revenue Administration Act. This process of obtaining the clearance certificate has been done manually with the issuance of a handwritten certificates over the years. It has been characterized with delays in the issuance by GRA, challenges in verifying genuine TCCs by recipients, the use of Fake TCCs, alleged malpractices of some Tax Officials among others.
“It is from this background that I directed the leadership of the GRA to automate the process of obtaining Tax Clearance Certificates and I am glad to announce to you that this process has been completed and will go live by October,” the Vice President disclosed.
Additionally, the Ghana Revenue Authority has introduced a taxpayers app, available on the Google Play Store and the App Store, as well as on www.taxpayersportal.com.
Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com