By Nelson Ayivor
Ho, July 3, GNA – Professor John Gartchie Gatsi, the Dean of the School of Business, University of Cape Coast (UCC), has called on taxation practitioners to exhibit high professional conduct and moral values in their professional practice.
He said practitioners must imbibe into their practice the code of conduct governing the profession and maintain commitment at all levels.
Professor Gatsi was delivering a lecture to the 2023 graduating class of the Chartered Institute of Taxation Ghana (CITG), on the topic: “Professional conduct and the role of members in protecting the image of the Chartered Institute of Taxation Ghana.
He said the purpose of professional code of conduct was to define behaviors and moral principles for practitioners to work effectively with everyday consciousness of objectivity, honesty, integrity and commitment to confidentiality.
Professor Gatsi explained that per section 12 of the taxation Act 916, no individual or firm was allowed to practise as a taxation practitioner unless they were registered members of the institute.
He called on all members of the institute to protect the Act and ensure that only registered members were allowed to practise.
He advised that membership of the Institute placed trust in the tax practitioner by their clients, the Ghana Revenue Authority, the regulators, and other stakeholders and this he noted must not be taken for granted.
“The responsibility for ethical and professional behaviour must be taken seriously by all practitioners within the tax profession irrespective of the years in practice – All of you must be committed to upholding and maintaining the reputation in order to sustain public trust – complying with ethical rules and professional conduct will not be painless – it may even cost you but this is the profession you have signed on to which demands daily consciousness,” he advised.
On professional misconduct, the Professor outlined some guidelines.
He said a person engaged in professional misconduct if not guided by or is not committed to the ethics of the tax profession, disclosing information acquired during professional engagement to another person without the consent of the client, among others.
On conflict of interest as the requirement of law, the Professor said, at any given time, conflict of interest should be disclosed, and such disclosures were to be recorded in a conflict-of-interest register.
He said while it was advisable to avoid inducement and gifts, it was appropriate for professional bodies and organizations to develop gift policies as some may want to
place premium on the value, type and material involved with others opting to discourage gifts in any form.
He said practitioners should not accept inducements or gifts or allow offers of hospitality, pleasure, or those with vested interests to influence, or be perceived to influence, their professional decisions.
The professor advised practitioners to be conscious as “your behaviour outside your professional life may have an effect on how you are perceived as a professional.”
He encouraged the participants to promote the brand of the Institute through adherence to the professional and ethical code of conduct of the Institute, serve their clients diligently and with utmost efficient service,
contribute to policy framing, regularly publish in the newsletter and or journal of the Institute.
Prof. Gatsi explained that upon obtaining membership and registration, a person was bound by the rules of professional conduct and must therefore adhere to its demands.
He said, the relevance of a professional body was about to be discredited if professional ethics and conduct is not prioritized.
He warned of chaos if the requirements were applied to members and charged the graduating class and other members of the Institute to promote the profession through good customer care and excellent professional service.
Members were encouraged to develop the profession through publication of practitioners’ series and in academic journals.
Professor Gatsi also called on the Institute to promote a tax journal that followed proper journal management protocols to make it attractive nationally and globally, adding that the Institute should create platforms for members to promote the CITG brand through innovation.
GNA