The member of parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, has pledged to widen the tax net to include artisans and people in the informal sector if he becomes president.

Agyapong, who is one of the 10 aspirants vying for the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), made the pledge in an interview on Citi TV’s Face to Face with Umaru Sanda Amadu.

He argued that the current tax net is too narrow and that it is not generating enough revenue to finance the government’s development agenda.

Agyapong said he is a pragmatic businessman and that he knows how to generate revenue. He said he will also crack down on tax evasion and corruption.

“My policy on taxes is that taxes will be reduced and expanded and what I mean by reduce is that taxes in this country are so high but only a few people are paying taxes.

“I am a pragmatic person and I have the experience. I am a business person and I am fortunate to have employed educated people, uneducated people, and artisans and I can tell you that artisans make more money than some educated people and this is clear in my construction site in Tema where a mason makes about GH¢150 a day which translates to close to GH¢4000 a month and graduate at Oman and Kencity makes between GH¢2,700 and is taxed in addition but the mason is not taxed.”

“When I am given the opportunity to become president, every artisan, everybody working in this country will have to register to have a license and a pin number so that we can tax them and when the tax base is expanded, we then reduce taxes,” Mr. Agyapong assured.