Most small business owners don’t understand tax laws – PEF Boss

A lot of small business owners in Ghana are unaware of the existing tax laws in the country, the Chief Executive Officer of the Private Enterprises Federation (PEF), Nana Osei Bonsu, has said.

The few who are aware, he said, don’t understand the laws and what it means to comply.

He has therefore, called for more education on tax laws in order to ensure full compliance by the business operators.

Speaking to the media after a stakeholder validation meeting on tax reforms for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMES), Nana Bonsu noted that education was very critical for businesses to understand the importance of paying the right taxes.

“Most of them do not understand the tax laws and tax languages so what they do is to assume what their fair share is and pay. Education is very critical to let them know that tax compliance is mandatory,” he explained.

He added that “they are not aware of the tax laws and even if they are aware, they do not understand and they cannot afford to hire someone who will interpret the tax laws for them. If I am going to pay taxes and I have to get a consultant which comes at a cost, then obviously I wouldn’t want to pay.”

His comments follow findings of a study carried out by PEF, in collaboration with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), which identified the lack of understanding of the country’s tax laws as one of the factors inhibiting the ability of businesses to honour their tax obligations.

The study, which sampled responses from 600 business in both rural and urban areas of the country, showed that majority of the respondents were not either aware of the tax laws or did not have a clear understanding of the country’s tax laws, hence the need for more education.