The Commission said payment of taxes was one most important way citizens could help in building the nation while having the moral justification to demand for accountability from duty bearers.

Mr. John Yibile, the Sissala East Municipal Director of NCCE made the appeal during the phase two of the District Wide Tax Compliance Crusade at the Central Gospel Church in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region.

The NCCE Sissala East District Director noted however that the right to tax citizens came with an obligation to be honest, transparent and accountable, and called on the government especially district assemblies to make it a duty to hold dishonest revenue collectors answerable for any financial malfeasance.

“The roads we travel on, the schools our children attend, the hospitals we go to when we are sick, the maintenance of law and order and general security and several other things are done with the taxes we pay,” he pointed out to the people.

He noted that the more and regular citizens paid their taxes, the more prosperous and better would be their collective future, hence the theme for the compliance campaign, “Our taxes, our future”.

“Every citizen has the right to security, education, health, to potable water and the rest. But we equally have the duty and responsibility to pay our taxes,” he said.

“Chapter six (6) of Article 41, paragraph (j) of the 1992 Constitution for instance, enjoins citizens as a civic responsibility to declare their income honestly to the appropriate lawful agency – the Ghana Revenue Authority and to satisfy their tax obligation,” he added.

Mr. Yibile therefore noted that payment of taxes was not only a civic duty but it was backed by law and that failure or refusal to meet ones tax obligation attracted a fine, imprisonment or both.

He said activities carried out by the Commission in the District to enable citizens honour their tax obligation included dawn and dusk broadcast, visit to faith based organizations, identifiable groups and radio discussions.

The NCCE Sissala East Municipal Director noted that a total of 40 programmes were carried out to educate the public to understand the type of taxes in place, the need to pay their taxes, the legal mandate of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the rights of the tax payer and the correlation between taxes and national development.