SCHOOL HEADS, OWNERS EDUCATED ON TAXATION (PAGE 11)

A seminar on the importance of taxation on incomes has been held for over 100 owners, heads and teachers of private basic, senior high and technical schools in the Eastern Region,
The seminar brought to the fore, the need for the participants to comply with the tax law and promptly file returns on the income of their employees to the service.
It was on the theme, "Your Tax Returns — A fair way of assessing your income tax" and it formed part of activities marking the revenue week celebration.
The Assistant Commissioner in charge of Operations of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Mr Seifa Agyabeng said that constitutional obligation would enable the IRS to fairly assess the correct income tax of employees to enable them to make claims for personal tax reliefs.
He said employers who failed to file returns on income on behalf of their employees only suceeded in denying them the opportunity to take advantage of the various tax reliefs.
"Honest and accurate declaration of tax returns by employers on behalf of their employees will enable them to take advantage of child education, tax reliefs on marriage, old age, capital allowances and other allowable expenses, Mr Agyabeng stated.
The Assistant Commissioner said it was a constitutional obligation for every employer to promptly file returns on incomes to the service not later than March 31 of every year.
"Article 41 (j) of the 1992 Constitution makes it obligatory, as responsible citizens who have a civic duty to the state, to pay our taxes to enable the government provide us all with social amenities such as good roads, hospitals, potable water, and electricity among others", he said.
Mr Agyabeng also asked employers to provide the service with information on each new employee engaged within a month as well as information on an employee who left the employment in the same period.
To this end, he asked employees, who also would have to file returns on incomes obtained from various sources such as taxable gifts and investments, to always obtain extract of income tax returns filed on their behalf by their employers to the IRS to ensure that the proper thing was done by their employers.
The Assistant Commissioner stated that both companies and individual taxpayers who committed any offence in the payment or under payment of tax could face both administrative and court actions.
"A company which fails to furnish a return of income on due date, in respect of each day during which the default continues, will pay GH¢12 while self-employed who commits the same offence will have to pay GH¢6”, he said, adding that any company or individual who made false and misleading statement of returns would pay twice the under payment of the tax.
He also indicated that in the case where a company or an individual deliberately made false and misleading statements, the offender would pay thrice that amount, while those who aided and abetted tax evasion would also pay thrice the figure.
On penalty imposed by the court, Mr Agyebeng stated that failure to furnish returns and making of false statements and returns to reduce tax could draw a severe punishment; a fine or imprisonment not less than two years or both.
For her part, the Eastern Regional Director of the IRS, Ms Patience Quaye, asked management of schools to honestly declare their various sources of incomes such as regular school fees, development levy, fees for extra classes, bookshops, canteen, income from transportation, sale of uniforms, rent of school premises, parent-teacher association (PTA) donations and external support.
To this end, he urged them to consult the IRS whenever they encountered difficulty in filing returns on their income for the extension of periods to do so.