NRA Starts Tax Clinic with Support from OSIWA

The National Revenue Authority (NRA) has launched a new tax education activity—‘Tax Clinic’. This activity which is sponsored by the Open Society Initiate for West Africa (OSIWA) is geared towards engaging taxpayers in the central business district on returns filing, records keeping and other compliance issues. It was launched on Saturday, 9th June, 2018 at Siaka Stevens Street where NRA staff visited shops and distributed tax education brochures and leaflets while engaging passers-by. The NRA has to date adopted a tax education strategy that builds compliance through partnership to foster a healthy balance between stakeholder engagement and tax enforcement. The Authority is increasingly improving its tax education to enhance voluntary compliance. The Authority in May this year announced that it has received funds from OSIWA to implement an effective nationwide taxpayer education and engagement campaign for a period of one year. The aim is to further improve relationships with key stakeholders and cultivate an overall culture of compliance. According to the OSIWA Country Officer, the main purpose of the project is to reduce dependence in resource extraction to mobilise domestic revenue for socio-economic development. The education project targets professional tax consultants & accountants, architects, engineers & contractors, lawyers, medical doctors, importers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and non-government organisations (NGOs). The Tax Clinic targets small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the central business district. With this project, the NRA will improve compliance of the ‘Hard-to-tax Sector’ which could have significant implications for expanding its tax base, reduce the tax gap, and enhance overall voluntary compliance and ultimately revenue collection.