Monrovia — In a move to educate and encourage Liberians and business institutions to pay their taxes a non-governmental tax research institution, Tax Research Action and Development (TREAD) has been officially launched in Liberia.
According to the executive director of TREAD Rufus B. Senyon, studies have shown that tax research plays a key role in national development.
He said his organization will partner with the government, non-profit and non-governmental institutions in conducting several research on tax for the good of nation's development.
In his words, the launch of his institution marks a historic epic in Liberia and is an era of a new dawn in the history of Liberia.
"We cannot less talk about the role tax policies institutions have played in many jurisdictions around the world. Non-governmental tax policies organizations in the form of think tanks have always been fundamental and crucial to national economy in fostering strong and effective tax systems,"
"A survey report by both the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the International Budget Partnership (IBP) from 66 countries published on the OECD Library in 2019 and 2020 underscore the important role of non-governmental actors. The survey indicates that non-governmental actors are more trusted in tax policy discussions and tax education awareness campaigns than governmental actors"
"Tax research institutions have been a medium for providing rigorous analysis and proffering tax policies proposals for governments to be more responsive to the needs of its people," Rufus told the media.
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The TREAD Executive Director added that tax research has served as a conduit for domestic revenue mobilization through tax awareness and education for better economic and social well-being for all.
Senyon explained that tax research driven organizations have been to identify problems in society and to provide solutions.
He indicated that tax research-based institutions believe that a nation would be at its best when they live up to the standard of broadly shared prosperity for all and that taxes paid must have a reciprocal effect.
"Tax Research Actions and Development seeks to mediate between governments and the public via the media and academics to provide specialists research on every imaginable fiscal policy area,"
"Tax Research Actions and Development or TREAD emerges to build citizens' consciousness to see the interconnection of tax payments to solving the developmental enclaves (gaps), increase people's understanding of tax issues as well as to underscore the links to public expenditure, potentially with a view to fuelling demand for government accountability as a mean to ameliorate some of the puzzles," he said.
TREAD will present a facts-based analysis and address every facet in the existing laws, assess policy deficiencies and analyze the distributional and revenue effects of taxes paid through the generation of research reports that are expected to be useful to decision-makers according to its Executive Director.
"Tax Research Actions and Development calls on every well-meaning Liberian, businesses, policies makers, international and developmental partners to join hands for a new renaissance as we yearn to change the national trajectory through robust and equitable tax discussions he concluded at the official launch on November 4, 2022.
