Chief Imam reminds Muslims of tax obligations to country
Accra: Sheikh Nuhu Sharubutu, the National Chief Imam of Ghana, has called on Muslims to contribute their quota to national development by paying their taxes regularly.
He emphasised the relevance of taxes to the country by saying that “the country’s economic stability rested on paying our taxes.”
The Imam made the remarks through his spokesperson, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, when a delegation from the Ghana Revenue Authority paid a courtesy call on the religious leader.
The call was part of outreach activities to mark July and August as the months for tax education.
Sheikh Sharubutu committed to encouraging imams to use their pulpit to educate the Muslim communities on the need for tax compliance.
He said it was imperative for all to pay taxes to meet the domestic revenue target, pledging the Muslims support to complement the authority to increase awareness of tax compliance.
“We believed that payment of taxes was a civic and national duty. Our domestic revenue needs to grow, and we will support it by encouraging Muslims to pay their taxes,” he said.
Meanwhile, he has urged GRA to be transparent and accountable about the revenue collected to build the trust and confidence of the public.
Brigadier-General Zibrim Bawah Ayorrogo, Commissioner, Customs Division of GRA, said the GRA has come to appreciate the essence of including religious bodies in their revenue mobilisation efforts.
“We need the religious bodies to support our activities to raise revenue for the country because we know that those who are faithful will heed the dictates of the Quran and pay their taxes,” he said.
He said the payment of taxes was not easy, but he was optimistic that the influence of the Chief Imam would encourage the Muslim faithful to fulfil tax obligations.
He assured the authority’s resolve to intensify tax education campaigns so that citizens would voluntarily honour their tax obligations.
According to the GRA, current tax compliance is below 30 percent, a phenomenon that needs to be addressed.
The team presented an undisclosed amount of money and donated assorted items, including bags of rice, cartons of frytol oil, packs of bottled water, cartons of tomato sauce, and packs of soft drinks.
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