The Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) has launched a war on tax evaders in the metropolis.
The assembly has started prosecuting landlords in the metropolis who are reluctant to pay their property rates.
The first batch of 20 landlords arraigned before the Sekondi Magistrate’s court were fined and ordered to pay up.
The landlords owe as much as GH¢520,000 in property rates and the first batch ought to pay about GH¢20,000. The Assembly is processing the others for court.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Assembly, Mr John Laste, non-payment of property and basic rate, business operating fees and other levies denied the assembly its needed revenue.
“We have a lot of development projects to finance and people need to pay their rates and levies promptly to enable the Assembly to undertake them,” he said.
“We at the Assembly are forced by circumstances beyond our control to resort to the courts to compel landlords and other business operators to pay their rates, fees and levies,” the PRO stressed.
He said they had sent a lot of reminders to the landlords and business operators to pay their rates, fees and levies but they simply ignored them.
“If these taxes are not collected, it is common knowledge that the Assembly’s development programmes would be thrown overboard because of lack of funding.
He, therefore, appealed to the general public, especially the property owners, to pay.
“The Assembly set March 31 every year as the deadline for business operators to honour their tax obligations but when the time was due we did not act immediately but sent reminders to them but they tacitly refused to honour their tax obligations to the Assembly, compelling the Assembly to apply the law,” Mr Laste said
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