Ken Ofori-Atta
MINISTER OF Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has revealed how some lawyers and business owners who complain on social media about government’s failure to provide certain public services are among the same people who refuse to pay their taxes.
According to him it was through taxes that government generates the revenues to meet those obligations.
Mr. Ofori-Atta was speaking on Friday, May 10, in Accra at an Economic Forum organized by the Danquah Institute (DI).
The forum held at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons focused on how to bridge the tax gap between the formal and informal sectors in order to achieve the Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda.
It was under the theme: ‘Bridging The Gap Between The Formal And Informal Economy: The Role Of Domestic Revenue Mobilization In An Era Of Ghana Beyond Aid.’
The Minister indicated that even though such people have the needed resources to contribute to nation-building, they refuse to do so by not paying their taxes.
He added “…there are lawyers, big business owners in the country, yet they refuse to declare their income.”
The Minister indicated that “they have the resources and knowledge to make their fair contribution but simply refuse to pay their taxes.”
He stated “and yet, will shout the loudest on social media and any given forum about how government is failing in delivering public services.”
He lamented that “such men and women are all around us. Unfortunately, they sit on the front pews of the churches.”
He indicated “our founding fathers encouraged us to build a nation where every Ghanaian is free and empowered to have access to education, skills and job opportunities in an ever-expanding economy to contribute fully to nation-building and self-enactment in a free and progressive society.”
According to him, “it is what the ruling New Patriotic Party stands for and has captured in its motto: ‘Development in Freedom’, but it is important for all of us to recognise that development in freedom only works when there is equity and opportunity.”
BY Melvin Tarlue