The Presidential Candidate of the Progressive People's Party (PPP) says Ghana is practicing a lazy approach to taxation where only a few people pay tax.

Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom says if Ghana moves away from that approach, a lot would be achieved including implementing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which comes with a unique numbering scheme. 

Speaking at the maiden Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Town Hall Debate for Presidential Candidate at the Kempinski Hotel In Accra Tuesday, he said the PPP can reduce the level of taxation by 50 percent in the country by the end of their first term. 

He decried how government has piled taxes on energy knowing very well the people cannot do without it adding when people and business are heavily taxed, those who cannot cope close shop. 

To remedy the situation, he said the right things must be done like having in place a working national identification system, which comes with a unique numbering system and can trace people's earnings and the taxes they pay. 

The business mogul said his government would increase productivity with low taxes and so they can be able to raise money by applying the funds that come from those producing. 

Dr Nduom believes government is spending on infrastructure that is not needed citing some cocoa producing, food crops and mining areas across the country which have bad road network. 

According to him the attitude of taxing successful as a way of punishing them must stop adding government must rather find ways of helping those individuals and business to see how they can be more productive for the state to also benefit.   

Independent candidate Joseph Osei Yeboah who was also on the debate panel said inasmuch as every country needs taxes to develop, the most important thing is to optimise tax as only a few Ghanaians pay tax. 

He said those in the formal sector are heavily taxed which is not helping issues. 

According to him, in a recent meeting with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) the establishment of a national electronic infrastructure and the expansion of their Union to include the informal and traditional sectors would help with taxation considering the traditional sector alone has about 80 percent of Ghanaians.

Mr Yeboah said Ghana can create wealth from its own economy without resorting to taking loans for building infrastructure. 

He also questioned the return on asset of the many infrastructural developments which he says are politically motivated and sited where they are not needed. 

The only independent candidate to make it in the presidential race believes it is important to find out if the infrastructure will help to make a positive impact in the lives of the people for whom it is put up rather than just putting them up for the sake of it.