Accra: Mr. Gilbert Yirenkyi Addo, the Associate Director of Business Tax at Deloitte Ghana, has debunked claims by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that maintaining proper business transactional records leads to higher taxation.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Addo clarified this misconception during a one-day SME Business Interaction Session organized by Access Bank (Ghana) PLC in partnership with Deloitte, under the theme 'SME Financial Empowerment: An Imperative for Business Resilience.' He emphasized that record-keeping is not solely for tax purposes and that SMEs should not fear that accurate records would result in increased scrutiny by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Mr. Addo explained that businesses should operate transparently, as doing business involves a social contract with the public and the state. He highlighted the importance of contributing to state development through taxes, which are calculated based on profits rather than revenue. The state, he noted, has structures in place to ensure that the taxes paid by businesses correspond to their expenses, providing some benefits to the taxpayer.
He further elaborated that concealing information is considered a criminal activity and that proper record-keeping could lead to tax incentives, such as capital allowances on asset purchases. Without accurate records, tax administrators would rely on their data to compute taxes, potentially disadvantaging the business. Mr. Addo stressed that maintaining records and paying taxes ultimately benefits both SMEs and the state.
