Communication team member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alex Akuoko has called for the inclusion of tax education in Ghana’s education system.
According to him, Ghanaians need to be sensitized thoroughly and groomed through basic education on the significance of taxes to the country and the implications of evading taxes.
In an interview with Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9 FM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ socio-political talk show, he reiterated that some liberal courses offered in Ghanaian educational institutions need to be designed to build a strong mentally for honouring tax payments as patriotic citizens.
“Tax education should be part of our curriculum. It needs to be part of the educational system right from the primary level. So we need to teach our children the need for paying taxes. It needs to go all the way through the universities where we have liberal courses. Those liberal courses since that is the exist point I think we need to design and build that mentally that money and taxation is the basic contribution to the development and management of the country. So that everyone will know the significance of their responsibility,” he said.
The 2020 Parliamentary aspirant for Ngleshie Amanfro further shared that in comparison, businesses in Europe and America are sensitized to file tax returns on time to avoid huge penalties and possibly gain some tax relief.
“There are some people I consult for them with businesses outside in America. Sometimes they could be here and when the time for them to file their returns come, they’re in a hurry but they’re also Ghanaians. So you ask them and they tell you they’re avoiding the penalties at the same time they understand the taxes very well. They know when they file and file them well, they’ll be able to get some tax relief,” he added.
Alex Akuoku urged the government to construct some tax relief mechanisms to encourage Ghanaian businesses to pay taxes and file tax returns.