Ho, Sept. 29, GNA - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has reduced tax rates for small-scale self-employed persons to make the system more acceptable to them.

It has also introduced some flexibility into the operation of the product to ensure voluntary compliance from the target group in the informal sector.

Mr Wheatley Mensah Ajavon, Volta Regional Director of the IRS, who revealed this at the regional re-launch of the Tax Stamp, said the measures were taken to widen the tax net and bring fairness and equity into the tax system.

Mr Wheatley observed that Tax revenue from the self-employed that constituted a large percentage of the economically active population of the country continued to diminish, a situation at variance with the boom in private business activities across the country. He noted that such people contributed nothing to national revenue, but enjoyed the benefits of the maintenance of law and order for their personal security and peace of mind, improvements in communication, technology and other infrastructure developments.

Mr Wheatley said the Tax Stamp was therefore instituted by Legislative Instrument, L.I 1803 to take care of the unfairness, adding: "The burden of tax must be shared by all".

He said apart from the current softness of the product, the system was being made friendlier to people in the informal sector by allowing identifiable groups to purchase the Tax Stamp in bulk and re-sell to members at the face value for commissions.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in a speech read for him observed that the nation could only live in dignity if it moved from dependency to self-reliance through honouring its responsibility in the payment of taxes.

He said reduction in the rates demonstrated government's preparedness to co-operate with the informal sector and urged self-employed persons to complement that effort to sustain the nation's accelerated development.

Mr Baah-Wiredu advised management of the IRS not to relent in its educational campaign but regularise it to ensure the success of the new Tax Stamp.

He also urged them to work hard to win the public's trust and confidence through their conduct and professional integrity to ensure maximum cooperation. 28 Sept. 06