Imagine a system where access to public services depends on your tax compliance status. That is exactly what Economist Dr. Adu Owusu Sarkodie is urging the government to implement.
The economist at the University of Ghana says tying the enjoyment of essential public services to tax payments is an easier way to enforce stricter compliance and boost national revenue.
Dr. Sarkodie cannot fathom why non-tax-compliant citizens should enjoy public services funded with tax revenues.
In his view, people working in the informal sector and earning huge sums of money have dodged the tax net but enjoy public services to the detriment of the few in the formal sector who pay the taxes.
“Go to Makola. Some of them are very rich. They have houses at Airport Hills, East Legon Hills, and all that. They don’t pay personal income tax. Meanwhile, the cleaner in the University of Ghana, whose salary is 1,000 Cedis, pays personal income tax,” the economist lamented in an interview monitored by The High Street Journal.
He added that, “And the same people, their wards will go to PRESEC free. You know, it doesn’t make sense.”
The economist says Ghana should take a lesson from African countries such as Uganda and Rwanda, which have been able to rope most informal sector workers into the tax net and hence pay their quota to support development.
Just as it is done in Rwanda, people who want to enjoy public services must submit proof of their tax-compliant status. Failure, the economist says, means the person must be denied access to such public service.
He argued that “Uganda is doing it. In Uganda, all those carpenters and masons are paying taxes. In Rwanda, you cannot enjoy any public service when you have not proven that you pay tax.”
“You take your child to Achimota for free education, show that you pay tax. You don’t pay taxes, we will not admit your child. So we should be serious as a country,” he insisted.
Dr. Sarkodies emphasizes that adopting this measure will widen the tax net and ensure fairness in the system.
His call comes amid ongoing debates about Ghana’s revenue generation strategies, with many experts advocating for reforms to enhance tax compliance, especially among high-earning individuals in the informal sector.
