Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, the 2012 presidential candidate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), has thrown his support for the removal of the tax exemption status enjoyed by Presidents.
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It's wrong for Presidents to be exempted from paying tax - Nduom
Dr Nduom said, "It is wrong, and absolutely wrong" for the president to be exempted from paying tax.
Founder of Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom
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In accordance with Article 68(5) of the Constitution, the salary, allowance, facilities, pension and gratuity of the President is exempted from tax.
But Dr Nduom said, "It is wrong, and absolutely wrong" for the president to be exempted from paying tax.
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"I prefer repealing the item in the constitution that exempts the president from paying tax. It is wrong, and absolutely wrong. You can’t have the president not paying tax. What moral right does the president then have to come and ask you and I to pay tax?
The new Income Tax Act as well as other taxes and levies have caused a major brouhaha in the country, with organised labour demanding reductions.
Speaking to the media in Accra on Thursday, 21 January 2016, Dr. Nduom believes government cannot continue to tax the easiest things it can lay hands on while it fails to widen the tax net through a proper identification system.
"We need to restructure our identification system so that everyone is registered onto the system and we know what people are doing, and this can easily lead to a broadening of the tax base and making a cash-lite society. If we have an effective, efficient and robust identification system, who can evade taxes forever?" he asked.
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See related: New tax lack broad consultation -Tax expert
"Someone has decided that we have some deficits, we have some debts to pay and so they decided that, what is easiest to tax is what they tax. We have to think broader so that we can bring other people into the tax paying regime so we can easy collect more money,"he added.
"What moral right does the president then have to come and ask you and I to pay tax?", Dr Nduom asked.
He has called for strengthening the tax authority with the best technology and human resources.
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