We act as religious people but don’t want to pay taxes; structure and nature of taxes must be reviewed – Ofori-Atta
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, addressed critical issues pertaining to the nation’s fiscal situation in a crucial meeting with the business community prior to the mid-year budget review.
The Minister began by recognizing the difficulties the government has recently faced, particularly with regards to budgetary choices.
“To make a turnaround after the government declared that it was not going to the fund and to end up doing it, it’s not an easy thing,” the minister stated, highlighting the complexities involved in implementing financial measures.
The minister emphasized that even though some choices might have seemed incongruous, they were ultimately made in response to the larger needs of the community as a whole.
The Finance Minister acknowledged inefficiencies and issues with how the nation’s budgetary deficit has been handled during the meeting.
“Is there a lot to do? Yes, all of these things and inefficiencies and the way in which we have operated, the deficit of the supremacy of the republic is always interesting, and how do we change that?”
For there to be greater public compliance, the minister acknowledged that the structure and nature of taxes needed to be reviewed.
The Finance Minister raised concerns about tax evasion and stated, “What do we do when all of these religious people sit in the front seat of the church and still no one wants to pay taxes, to a certain degree, so yes the structure and nature of the taxes must be relooked at.”
