Former Controller and Accountant General, Christian Sottie says merging the National Identification Card and Tax Identification Number(TIN) can help deal with issues of tax evasion. 

In an interview on JoyNews' The Pulse on Monday, he explained that the lack of a basic structure to identify people, where they live and how much they earn is the reason many people have been able to evade taxes over the years. 

“We don’t have identities...unlike many other countries when you are born, you are registered, your fingerprint is taken, you are given a specific ID...We don’t have that thing here. Because of that, everybody is an anonymous person” he told host Ayisha Ibrahim. 

He added that this makes it difficult for officials to track businesses and collect the appropriate taxes. 

His comments come after President Akufo-Addo warned professionals across the country to heed to their tax obligations.

At the ongoing Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Annual Conference in Bolgatanga, President Akufo-Addo sounded a word of caution to professionals across the country who are shirking their tax obligations.

According to him, the current situation where about 60,000 professionals in the nation’s workforce are not complying with tax laws is worrying.

He sees it as even more embarrassing where lawyers in many jurisdictions who are supposed to ensure sanity in the clients’ books, rather spearhead the canker, leading to shortfalls in revenue.

“They appear to think, that being members of the learned professions puts them above compliance with everyday civic duties like paying taxes. It is embarrassing that lawyers are often on top of the list of those who flout our tax laws and use their expertise to avoid paying taxes,” he said.