Since his emergence as the 8th elected Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has sought to impose a new and harsh tax regime on Ndi Anambra. Using the pretext of wanting to increase the revenue base of the state, Governor Soludo has rather raised the tax burdens on the ordinary Anambra people who are not inured from the worsening economic circumstances presently faced. Coming at a time when the nation has just pulled itself out of another recession and coupled with the tangential effects of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the decision by Soludo to introduce such a tax regime without any real offers of a rebate to the people has somewhat ticked off whatever goodwill the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria had on his assumption of office in March 2022.

Appearing to be in a haste to tax Ndi Anambra, a number of citizens of the state began receiving tax notifications  on the need to pay up their Personal Income Tax even when a number of these persons were not working or earning their living within the state. The messages largely embarrassed a number of these persons and showcased Soludo’s unbridled desire to tax his people.

Like opening Pandora’s box sort of, it seemed pellucidly clear that Governor Soludo had let out the furies of taxation and no one would be spared! Like Shakespeares Caesar, Governor Soludo had cried havoc that the state  had an outstanding bill of N513.9bn yet to be paid by its 2.1 million taxpayers and had let slip the dogs of taxation!

Nobody seems to be free from such an insidious desire to tax the ordinary citizen, from the holloipolloi to the top hats or should I say redcaps, tricycle drivers popularly known as keke  drivers to shuttle drivers and transporters, traders and even businesses have all seen a tightening of the tax man’s noose around their already stretched necks!

Read Also; A glimpse of Soludo’s Anambra, four months after

Like I had earlier stated, at a point when a majority of Nigerians are already doing battle with a stagflation of sorts such as the rising prices of food staples, the increase in fuel prices and the bludgeoning cost of services as well as running a business in Nigeria, the question should be is the blanket taxation of every Okoro, Okorie and Okafor, Governor Soludo’s best foot forward? Shouldn’t the administration given these dire times that we have found ourselves in , offer tax cuts or worse offer a hold up its taxation sails for the time being? One would have expected the professor of economics to talk the same language with common sense economics that seeks to help the common man scale up with the current economic pressures!

Yes the Soludo administration would be needing all the resources at its disposal to meet the rising challenges of providing the basic services and bridging the infrastructural deficit faced by the state, I get that but then  there are other ways to meet such a burden rather than casting ominous taxes on the ordinary people!

Asking tricycle drivers and other transporters to pay a monthly tax of 15,000 and 18,000 monthly irrespective of whether they worked that month or not is not only harsh but unworkable, one would have recommended a daily pay as you work mode so that these transporters could cater for unexpected situations such as faulty vehicles, ill health or other emergencies that could take them off the road. This can also be done electronically.

Likewise the increased taxes on residential, commercial buildings as well as traders all in the name of waste collection and operation of their stalls in the various markets will only worsen the economic circumstances of the payers who will in turn pass the burden to others.  Asking citizens and businesses to pay humongous fees for refuse clearing or traders at the Eke Awka market for capturing is indeed taxation without a human face. For example asking a hotel or business  that readily employs 50 people to pay a 20 percent increased amount or so  for the collection of waste and refuse will not only hurt such a business but will also force such a business to either increase the cost of their services, downsize and either cut salaries of their workers or lay off such staff! Now, not only will such a business be burdened by such payments, we are also likely to witness a sharp increase in the unemployment rate within the state.

Rather than burden the ordinary man as I have explained in this piece, why is the Soludo administration not going after plugging the revenue leakages first and perhaps opening a series of probes into the many numerous dealings of the past administration which fleeced the state blind? Why is the Soludo administration not content with the N100bn loan it sought from the Anambra State House of Assembly for the refurbishment and construction of critical infrastructure within the state? Had the loan not been approved then one would obviously have excused such a huge drive to tax the Anambra citizen perhaps to death as necessary even in the face of the nation’s worsening economic situation. Matter of fact one would have expected the Soludo administration to perhaps show a little working , get off its own inertia and perform the magic he had so much campaigned about before asking the ordinary citizen to trust him the more with their taxes.