Expose people who work at home without paying tax – MCE

The Mfantseman Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Henry Kweku Hayfron, has appealed to artisans to expose their colleagues who do not honour their obligations.

“Anyone who hides in the home and does business without paying tax is an enemy to the state who does not want to see the nation develop”, he said.

Mr Hayfron made the appeal at a forum organised by Mankessim branch of the National Association of Beauticians and Hairdressers (NABH) in collaboration with BUSAC Fund.

The forum was to advocate for a review of Income Tax Assessment for NABH members.

Mr Charles N. Dibaar, Assistant Inspector of Taxes at the Mankessim office of the IRS, said IRS had no authority to reduce tax since tax was an Act of Parliament and it was only parliament which could review it.

Mr Alex Appiah, Assembly member for Edumadze-Twafo Electoral Area, said government did not intend to over burden the private sector with taxes.

Mr Ericson Bright, Consultant of BUSAC Projects, said the decision of the BUSAC to support the NABH advocacy was because it supports the Ghanaian private sector to advocate for change to remove constraints to their businesses.

He said policies and laws regulating the administration of tax revealed an apparent leak in the tax system with a lot of people finding ways to avoid paying taxes.

Mr Bright said due to high illiteracy and improper record keeping, taxes in the informal sector seemed mostly based on estimates which did not reflect the real income of tax payers.

He said there were a lot of hairdressers who had not registered with NABH and operated from homes and earned more income than what NABH members earned because they determined their own fees and evade tax.

Source: GNA