Arthur Vanderbilt once said that "taxes are the lifeblood of government and no taxpayer should be permitted to escape the payment of his just share of the burden of contributing thereto." A lot of people are weighing in the closure of #DailyObserver. This newspaper has been in existence for over 20 yrs. I understand press freedom and the protection of dissenting views and voices. However, the closure of the paper was neither political nor journalistic. Gambia is a country of laws and the responsibility and onus of paying taxes lies with the tax payer not the enforcer. Observer operated outside the confines of the law by disregarding a statutory obligation of paying taxes. The arrogance and bravado of this paper stopped them from negotiating a payment plan to offset their staggering liability. Therefore the closure is not only justified but legally prescribed by law. For the infomation of our readership, the GRA will not abruptly halt the operations of the newspaper without due notice. Secondly, the paper is not by no means in a position to offset its tax liabilities in the medium term considering the fact that their future revenue streams can't sustain the paying out their outstanding liabilities. A business has a right to live and a right to die and unfortunately, the Daily Observer chose death. May theybrest in peace. Legal compliance supersedes the press freedom rights of the observer or any other company. Ignorance has never been an excuse of breaking the law.
Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. It is folly for the Managing Director of the Defunct Daily Observer to blame the enforcer (GRA) for non payment of taxes by a corporate body (Daily Observer). Such a statement borders between corporate irresponsibility and wilful deceit. The only thing that's constant are death and taxes. OBSERVER chose not to pay their taxes and now they are dead. #RIP defunct newspaper once called Daily Observer. Oh by the way, DR Owl said that 100 days for the thief, 1 day for the Master yard.
No comments:
Post a Comment