Ghanaian publishers say their capacity to produce educational materials is being constrained by high paper importation cost. They want the government to waive taxes on paper import duty and other printing supplies to encourage local production of educational materials. This, according to the publishers, will help create employment and rake in more revenue for the State. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been engaging printers and publishing houses in Kumasi, as part of an ongoing drive to increase tax compliance among the informal business sector. Mr. Ernest Opoku, Ashanti Regional Acting Director of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA, observed that “the self-employed taxpayers (informal sector) contribute less tax as compared to the PAYE employees (formal sector) who are always deducted from source. It is the result of this inexcusably low performance of the self-employed persons that the Authority (GRA) is initiating action with regard to embark on extensive tax education throughout the country to create awareness and thereby raise the level of voluntary compliance”. In a bid to rope in identifiable groups to contribute to national development, the Authority has placed a monitoring team to ensure compliance. But players in the publishing and printing sector say it is difficult for them to honor their tax obligations because of dwindling fortunes in the sector. Joseph Albert Quarm, Chief Executive Officer of Prof-Quarm Publication Limited, acknowledged the need for players in the publishing industry to keep proper tax records, because “tax officials often base their assessment on the track record of the business”. He however observed that the publishing houses are not getting the contracts they need in order to grow their operations and continue honouring their tax obligation. According to Mr. Quarm, local publishers are forced to print a larger proportion of educational books abroad, depriving the Ghanaian economy of opportunities in job creation. “We have advised the government to waive tax on papers because for we, for instance, we produce for schools, it’s an educational material but the government is not willing to waive down the tax. So right now virtually all publishers are printing from outside because when you’re coming with an educational material you don’t pay tax duty on it”, he noted.