The Ashanti Regional Director of Internal Revenue Service, Mr John Defortse, has said the Income Tax Verification Sticker was not a new system of taxation but to help identify taxpayers. He said issuing the stickers to taxpayers was to enforce tax payment in the country. Mr Defortse was speaking at the Annual Week celebration of IRS in Kumasi under the theme "Promoting Understanding of Income Taxation". It was to sensitise the public to honour their tax obligations through filing of their tax returns. He expressed concern about the low rate of taxpayers filing their returns this year, saying only 50 per cent of workers in the formal sector had filed their tax returns by the deadline on April 30. Mr Defortse appealed to the public to file their returns to avoid payment of penalties. Mr Osei Assibey Antwi, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, who filed his returns during the celebration, said it was the civil responsibility of every Ghanaian engaged in business to file his or her tax returns. He said Government undertook development projects with the taxes realised by the IRS. Mr Antwi appealed to Ghanaians above 20 years and employed to fulfil their tax obligations to enable Government realise more money to undertake development projects. "The inability of citizens to pay their taxes and on time affects Government projects and the economy," he added. Source: GNA