Question

Taxation is often defined as the levying of compulsory contribution by public authorities having tax jurisdiction to defray the cost of their activities. No specific reward is gained by the payer. Monies collected from taxation is used for the common good , that is for the production of certain social amenities which are more efficiently provided by the state. Rather than individuals , example the maintenance of law and order at home, and defiance against external aggressions
Tax is therefore a person’s share, contribution and obligation for the maintenance of socio economic order and good governance and to enjoy the sovereign rights privileges and powers of a state. It is important to understand the need for man to honor the obligation of contributing a share in financing public expenditure
Unfortunately, some misconception on the part of the taxpayers does not allow them to avail themselves for tax payment. STaxpayers are of the view that taxes not as a responsibility of the citizen but as something that is imposed on their right. The unwillingness on the part of the majority of the people to pay taxes including the educated manifest itself in lack of social amenities in our society. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) which happens to be the sole collector of direct tax faces challenges. The contribution of taxes in the socio-economic development of Ghana cannot be overemphasized, it is for this reason that all attempts must be made to identify problems that hinders smooth tax administration and help eradicate them.

Required:
Identify and discuss the challenges confronting tax administration in Ghana and offer practical suggestions to overcome these challenges. ( 25marks)

Answer 1

Revenue from tax which is big source of revenue to the government has been major concern to many devolping countries such as Ghana in recent times. This is due to the fact that taxation faces a lot of challanges in devolping countries and once these challenges are not properly dealt with, it became biggest disadvantage to the government and citizens of that country,as enough revenue will not be generated to the government. Various challenges such as complex tax structure,tax evasion and inadequate logistics are making taxation difficult in Ghana. All these challenges reduce the amount of revenue generated by the Government. The inability of government to tackle these challenges will encourage economic instability,poor infrastructural development and poor economic growth

Based on the findings revealed from the data analysis and interpretation, the researcher came up with the some suggestions and recommendations such as

The desired to build a civilized country with a strong and sound economy is the desire of every patriotic Ghanaian citizen.tax payment is voluntary contribution imposed by the Government on personal income earners, companies, investors,exporters,importers etc