Taxes from lands, property rates sufficient to bridge budget deficits
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Sector Reforms Secretariat, Mr. Thomas Kusi-Boafo, has blamed Ghana’s developmental challenges on leakages in the public sector.
According to him, taxes from lands sold by chiefs and other property rates are enough to close the gap in the country’s budget deficit.
Speaking on Angel FM’s Anɔpa Bɔfoɔ Morning Show on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, he said that “the greatest portion of Ghana’s developmental challenges can be attributed to cash bleeding. Monies from the sale of lands by chiefs together with property rates which we refuse to pay [to the state] is enough to close Ghana’s budget deficit”.
Mr. Boafo proceeded that the nation ought not borrow funds from International Financial Institutions or developed nations to undertake developmental projects.
He questioned why traditional authorities would readily sell lands and other properties yet cannot develop their townships or improve the people’s standards of living.
“Some people have managed to sell as many as 1,000 plots of lands, some of which go for as much as one billion old currency, without developing the town but still demand for roads and toilet facilities from the government. Ask yourself why should it be so?”, he quizzed in Twi.
He was however, delighted that parliament was quick to pass the Land Act, which prohibits chiefs from selling lands without paying royalties to the relevant state agencies.
The Public Sector Secretariat CEO further underscored that any country where the elites are unpatriotic and shirk their tax paying obligations is doomed to fail irrespective of the several interventions that may be put in place.
Again, he was disappointed that a lawyer in good standing, who can charge GHS50 million for a case and purchase a car for GHS1.2 billion, would refuse to file his tax returns.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has chided lawyers for their poor records regarding tax payment.
The President, at the 2021 Ghana Bar Conference held at Bolgatanga, on the theme “ensuring an increase in revenue mobilisation through taxation for the purpose of accelerated national development: The role of the lawyer’, was disappointed that lawyers were among professionals who were not complaint with taxes.
“They appear to think, that being members of the learned profession 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,” the president stated.
