The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has blamed the effective tax systems in the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for failure of lawyers in discharge their full tax obligations to the country.
Speaking at the Ghana Bar Association’s (GBA) Annual General Conference in Bolgatanga, Lawyer Damestated, “I must admit that, the failure of lawyers in Ghana to discharge their full tax obligations is not entirely their fault. The absence of effective systems by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to ensure that all potential tax payers are brought into the tax net is majorly responsible.”
He has therefore admonished the GRA to devise the appropriate mechanisms for ensuring that the tax net is broadened to its elastic limit in order to bring within it all potential tax payers including all practicing lawyers.
Another part the lawyer ought to play in ensuring an effective revenue mobilisation is by aiding other taxpayers to know their tax obligations and not to fall short of the law”, he added.
President Nana AddoDankwaAkufo-Addo who was the Guest of Honour at the event, bemoaned the current situation where over 60,000 professionals in the nation’s workforce are not complying with their tax obligations as enshrined in the 1992 constitution.
He said it becomes more embarrassing where lawyers in many jurisdictions who are supposed to ensure sanity in the clients’ books, rather spearhead the canker, leading to shortfalls in revenue while the GRA is making no effort in addressing this practice.
“They appear to think that being members of the learned professions puts them above compliance with everyday civic duties like paying taxes. It is embarrassing that lawyers are often on top of the list of those who flout our tax laws and use their expertise to avoid paying taxes,” he said.
