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Tag: taxes

  • Down with telecoms taxes!

    It is like there is a fixation in government circles with perceived idle goldmine in the telecoms sector that must be desperately tapped. And so, all manners of gambits are being opened.

    With the gruelling recession that Nigeria currently passes through, government revenue from the oil-based mono economy is notoriously lean and there is apparently a driving impulse within to squeeze Nigerians some more for extra revenue. Not that such is unusual; since it follows in classical economy that government should prospect for higher taxation revenue to cushion the shortfalls in its oil takings. But the brutal fact also is that many Nigerians are stretched painfully thin by this same recession, and any taxation drive not carefully thought through could tip them over the recession cliffhanger into economic abyss. More important, initiatives to raise taxation revenue needn’t be all targeted at the telecoms sector – with the implied constraints for citizens’ constitutional right to free expression. In this severely trying times for the Nigerian economy, the least citizens should be left with is the space for free expression through the telecoms platforms.

    But for a rethink last week, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) would have subjected subscribers to higher data tariff by mobile network operators. The tariff hike was to take effect on December 1st if the regulator had not backed down on the heels of a last-minute intervention by the Senate, which ordered that the initiative be shelved. In its statement suspending the plan, NCC said it asked operators to “maintain the status quo until the conclusion of a study to determine retail prices for broadband and data services in Nigeria.”

    The commission smooth-talked the entire plan. It would have us understand that the whole idea wasn’t about increasing data tariff, but rather some regulatory routine by which it prescribed an interim price floor for data aimed at promoting level playing field for all operators, protecting small players and encouraging new entrants to the industry. “The decision on the price floor was taken in order to protect consumers who are at the receiving end, and save the smaller operators from predatory services that are likely to suffocate them and push them into extinction. The price floor is not an increase in price, but a regulatory safeguard put in place by the regulator to check anti-competitive practices by dominant operators,” the NCC statement explained.

    The actual effect of the policy, though, was that existing data tariff would have been doubled – at least by the major telecoms operators who jointly control nearly all of the Nigerian subscriber market. One operator had earlier last week confirmed such effect: “Dear customer, please be informed that from 1stDec., some data tariffs will be increased to reflect the new rates set by the NCC for operators,” it said in a short message service (SMS) to its subscribers.

    In practical application, it meant Nigerians would have to pay perhaps double the present rates to use Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram and other social network applications, plus everything else relating to Internet. The corollary is that if they can’t afford to pay higher, they must cut down on usage. And the catch is: with the sheer quantum of Nigerians plying their lives on the telecoms platforms, and with the prevailing hardships that do not dispose many to readily affording the proposed higher tariff, nothing works better to curtail free expression.

    The Senate apparently saw through the endgame. Senate President Bukola Saraki, in explain the chamber’s intervention, was reported saying: “At a time when the cost of living has gone up for all Nigerians due to inflation being at 18.3%, the NCC has implicitly mandated the service providers to increase their costs to maintain profits. This is unacceptable. I have seen the power of the Internet – how it serves to give a voice to the voiceless, and a platform for millions to air their views. This is why the Senate will continue to maintain that access to the Internet remains affordable to all Nigerians.”

    Well, it must be that the Senate is thankfully born again! Because that Red chamber and its Green counterpart, the House of Representatives, had only last February tabled the Communications Service Tax Bill that seeks to impose nine per cent tax on fees charged by service providers for voice calls, SMS, Multi-Media Services (MMS), data usage and pay-per-view television. That bill is currently in the legislative mill.

    Another seeming new convert is Communications Minister Adebayo Shittu, who last week disowned the NCC, saying the Federal Government never gave it the go-ahead to raise data tariff.

    Speaking on a radio programme, Wednesday, the minister rationalised the NCC initiative but nevertheless trashed it. “There are reasons for what they (NCC) have done. The reasons, I’m sure, are not political; it could be more of logistics and all of that… But I want to say that I was not privy to it. Government never gave any such instruction. The voice of Nigerians must not be muscled. This government came in through the democratic process and it has a duty to continue to protect the interest of Nigerians, and I can assure you we will do the needful in protecting the rights and privileges of Nigerians,” he told his interlocutor.

    Only that the minister was far less mindful of constraints to free speech when he mounted an advocacy much earlier on for the proposed communications tax bill. Against the outcry by industry stakeholders and the public over the proposed legislation, he argued for the expected revenue, which he only spiced with the promise of government upgrade of telecoms infrastructure. “I have been reliably informed that the projected earnings from this effort is over N20billion every month, which is N240 billion yearly, and this is an attraction to the government in funding our budget deficits,” he once said.

    Lately, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele weighed in on the telecoms tax drive, proposing a levy on voice calls to help the government break stagflation in the economy. Speaking at the 2016 Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Emefiele canvassed “a negligible telecom surcharge to be entirely borne by the initiator of a call.”

    He had said: “In order to protect the poor and vulnerable amongst us, we could structure it to only take effect after the third minute of talk. Some analyses have indicated that the government could earn about N100billion per annum from this alone. Obviously this surcharge will mainly be borne by middle and upper class people, since I do not know many poor people who make calls for more than three minutes.”

    But the CBN boss was grossly wrong. For one, it is moot whether the present economic realities leave Nigeria with any middle class; and the reality on Main Street is that the poor engage the telecoms platforms for far longer because that is where they make up for the repressing effects of their personal economies. Besides, with the high cost of gasoline, voice calls have come in handy for many Nigerians, including the poor, to ply their trade where they can’t afford transportation charges.

    As for the upper class, many rarely pay out of their pockets for basic services like telecoms – I am almost certain Mr. Emefiele does not – because the services are funded from corporate treasuries as part of the perks of office. Where those treasuries are in the private sector, the expense is reckoned as part of overhead costs that are simply downloaded to end-users of the products or services on offer, largely constituted by the vulnerable poor. So, the poor invariably pays.

    Let’s get this clear: there are two direct effects of telecoms taxation, neither of which spares the ordinary Nigerian. Higher tariff will constrain his use of the telecoms platforms, thereby limiting his freedom of speech, or they will translate to higher inflationary trends. We really can do without both.

  • NNPC owes over $300m in taxes, says FIRS

    NNPC owes over $300m in taxes, says FIRS

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is owing over $300 million in tax arrears, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, has said.

    Fowler, while speaking yesterday before the Hon. Michael Enyong Okon headed Adhoc Committee Investigating the FIRS’ accounting procedure, said the computation of the outstanding was done by the NNPC itself.

    On NNPC’s non-compliance with the issue of tax return, he said all unresolved matters will be sorted out at the conclusion of the ongoing audit exercise, adding that the FIRS should have a proper assessment at the end of the audit of the NNPC  in June.

    He said: “On the taxable profits of companies, (under NNPC), I cannot give any specific information regarding the amount until the audit report for last year is ready for assessment.”

    He however said the Corporation has promised to get back to the Agency with a plan on how to defray the outstanding, stating that the self-assessment by companies as done by the NNPC was not final.

    “We are also deploying a system where all outstanding taxes owed by companies are recalled using automated platform. Right now, many companies, on the basis of that are doing self-assessment and have promised to remit all outstanding Value Added Tax (VAT) owed.

    “One of the key things we did to ramp-up the revenue base when I was in Lagos, was to do a comprehensive audit, and I believe if we apply the same method, we will achieve the same result and even more. I know that those I met on ground did their best to enhance the process and we are currently building on what they put on ground,” he said.

    Fowler said Nigeria is part of countries losing about $250 billion through evasion/ underpayment of taxes, adding that there is need for a sensitive and pro-active tax collection and management regime.

    “We tend to believe that companies, especially multinationals would declare their figures properly, but organisations that deal with tax have estimated that well over $250 billion is lost every year in tax revenue from companies that file low revenues as returns.

    “So, I think we just have to change our approach and assume that everyone is guilty until proven innocent  when it comes to the issue of tax,” he stressed.

    On their part, the lawmakers insisted in knowing why the FIRS withheld part of the N7.5 billion tax refunds meant for some companies that had been overtaxed. The agency had requested for the funds from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), received it, but some of the affected companies alleged that they never got it.

    The Committe chair wondered why the FIRS would receive the amount only to deprive some of the firms that have legitimate claims on the refund.

    Responding, Fowler said in the case of tax refund, the N7.5billion released on19th December, 2014, from the Committee’s investigation, revealed that some of the said approved cases were not implemented as monies received, were not paid to all those who were listed in the request, adding that certain criteria were used for consideration and payment in order to avoid paying an undeserving companies.

    He however promised to look into the matter, with the assurance that such an incident would not occur again.

  • Ayade won’t introduce new taxes in Cross River

    Ayade won’t introduce new taxes in Cross River

    Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade has said his administration will not impose new taxes on the people.

    Instead, the governor pledged, it would harness the state’s natural resources to better the lot of the people.

    He said his administration’s core role is to protect the governed.

    Ayade spoke at the weekend in Calabar, the state capital, after listening to a presentation by a consulting firm and a bank on how to increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) with the introduction of new tax heads.

    The governor, who regretted that the model the investors presented, which had worked in Lagos and Ogun states to boost their IGR, would rather add to the hardship among Cross River residents.

    He said: “I want you to sympathise with the state of Cross River. We are a state whose corporate philosophy is bringing government to the people that need it the most. We are a people who believe in the Afro-centric theory of providing a shoulder for your tired brother to lean on.

    “If we deepen this theory, it might come to a point when there is a Kantian impression that tends to equate government and the economy in such a way that the government’s core role in Cross River State is to protect the governed. There is no developmental effort, no deliberate effort of raising IGR that will be premised on taxing your people to prosperity. As a government that has a corporate conscience, at any point you put a tax, you should ask yourself what you are giving to the people in return.”

    Ayade added: “When I do the Home Certification Process at a cost to a man who is a civil servant, I will be putting an extra burden on a shoulder, which is tired, with a deliberate struggle to see how I can get money and raise my IGR. I might celebrate the N11 billion in three months, but I have put one of my citizens out there in a bigger pain.

    “I don’t believe in taxing people to raise money; I believe in tasking my brain to raise money. The kind of programme you will bring to me that will excite me is the kind that will take advantage of our natural resources and convert them to wealth.”

  • ‘Multiple taxes weighing down companies’

    THE Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Remi Ogunmefun, has described as scandalous the unprecedented level of taxes levied against manufacturing companies operating in the country, saying the development is a disincentive to business.

    He noted that manufacturers are already overburdened by a lot of challenges including limited infrastructure, which is why it is unthinkable that they are continuously being overstretched.

    “I can tell you without mincing words that many manufacturing companies in the country today pay one form of levy or the other to at least 25 agencies, including federal, state and local government. This is killing. How can manufacturers survive in this kind of hostile environment, it is impossible?” Ogunmefun asked.

    According to him, manufacturers are groaning under severe multiple taxation that adds to the cost of business and disrupts the manufacturing chain.

    The way forward, he said, is for the government to streamline these taxes  to encourage the growth of companies.

     

    “Many manufacturing plants we have today are no longer in business because of a number of factors, part of which includes poor operating environment and the issue of multiple taxations. There is an urgent need on the part of government to address this ugly situation,” Ogunmefun stressed.

  • Harmonisation or legalisation of Multiplicity of Taxes and Levies?

    Harmonisation or legalisation of Multiplicity of Taxes and Levies?

    the Federal Government, under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, acting through the then Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on May 26, 2015, amended the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap. T2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. The Act was previously referred to as Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Decree, No. 21 of 1998. It came into effect on 30th September, 1998. The Act is an existing law under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, section 315 of which provides in subsections (1)(a) and (2) as follows:

    (1)  Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, an existing law shall have effect with such modifications as may be necessary to bring it into conformity with the provisions of this Constitution and shall be deemed to be –   (a)   an Act of the National Assembly to the extent that it is a law with respect to any matter on which the National Assembly is empowered by this Constitution to make law.

    (2)  The appropriate authority may at any time by order make such modifications in the text of any existing law as the appropriate authority considers necessary or expedient to bring that law into conformity with the provisions of this Constitution.

    By the combined provisions of Paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Part II of the Second Schedule, and Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Fourth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, the Federal, State and Local Governments have the responsibility to collect taxes, levies and other variants of them as a fallout of our federal system of government.

    Pursuant to section 1(2) of the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act (hereafter referred to, for convenience, as “the Act”) provides:

    The Minister of Finance may, on the advice of the Joint Tax Board and by Order published in the Gazette, amend the Schedule to this Act.

    Throughout the Jonathan administration, the Minister was under intense pressure to harmonise taxes and levies payable in Nigeria at all levels because of its bearing on the cost of doing business in Nigeria.

    The necessity to generate increased revenue for the various tiers of government had led to a situation where the Federal, States, and Local Governments had refused to be bound by the taxes and levies listed in the Schedule consisting of three parts to wit, Part I (eight for Federal Government), Part II (eleven for each State Government), and Part III (twenty for each Local Government) as provided for by section 1(1) of the Act. Besides, it was discovered that ad hoc revenue contractors and touts were being used by many States and local governments to harass taxpayers contrary to section 3 of the Act which provides:

    A person who— (a)     collects or levies any tax or levy; or  (b)   mounts a road block or causes a road block to be mounted for the purpose of collecting any tax or levy,

    in contravention of section 2 of this Act, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N50,000 or imprisonment for three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

    Section 2 of the Act actually provides that no person, other than the appropriate tax authority, shall assess or collect, on behalf of the Government, any tax or levy listed in the Schedule to the Act, and members of the Nigeria Police Force shall only be used in accordance with the provisions of the tax laws. It is also part of the provision of section 2 that no person, including a tax authority, shall mount a road block in any part of the Federation for the purpose of collection of any tax or levy.

    Any person resident in Nigeria, since 1999, will attest to the fact that the provisions of these stated sections 2 and 3 of the Act were obeyed more in breach than otherwise. Many States and local government councils patronised non-professional revenue officers who mounted road blocks indiscriminately demanding for myriad of levies thereby distorting business plans and disrupting businesses. This prompted the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) (as a representative of the business community in Nigeria) in 2011 in collaboration with the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), USA, carried out a study on “Fostering Private Sector Participation in Policy Making through Taxation Reform” across three pilot states of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo.

    Out of the 1,298 questionnaires administered, 1,014 were retrieved and analysed, while 17 Chief Executives Officers of selected companies were directly interviewed. The study was aimed at understanding the nature of multiple taxation and its effects on businesses. The result formed the basis for appropriate advocacy programmes intended to influence policy formulation processes of government with a view to reducing the tax burden and make Nigerian businesses more competitive.

    The objectives of this study were to strengthen the capacity of the private sector to contribute more meaningfully to policy making process, and to enhance the capacity of local, state and federal government officials to appropriate tax policies and their effect on business community.

    Relying on the result of its study, MAN petitioned the Federal Government, which allowed MAN to make a presentation to the National Economic Council (NEC) on 29th January, 2014.

    Consequently, the NEC set up a Committee with Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, Governor of Gombe State, as chairman, on the Review of Incidences of Multiple Taxation across the Federation at various levels and its effects on the Manufacturing Sector’s Productivity.

    The Committee created a Technical Sub-Committee headed by Alhaji Kabir Mashi, the then Acting Chairman, FIRS, which met from Februry 22  to24, 2013 and produced a report that acknowledged the existence of multiple taxes and levies in Nigeria.

    It submitted the Report with observations and recommendations to the Dankwambo Committee, which considered it before submission to NEC. Given the seriousness of the incidence of multiple taxation as constraints to manufacturing, agriculture and overall national development, five critical recommendations were made for immediate attention:

    (i)   Review and amendment of the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap. T2, LFN 2004; (ii)    Outlaw the use of unorthodox means to collect taxes and levies; (iii)   Automation of tax operations by relevant tax authorities to eliminate leakages and ensure ease of collection; (iv)   Tax authorities should discontinue the use of consultants for tax assessment and collection; and  (v)   Tax authorities should publish the approved list of taxes and levies within the States and Local Governments to educate the public and facilitate compliance.

    The National Economic Council in due course accepted these recommendations. The duty to review and amend the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap. T2, LFN, 2004 fell on the Minister of Finance in accordance with section 1(2) of the Act. The States, whose Boards of Internal Revenue are members of the Joint Tax Board, made out a case for the inclusion of several taxes and levies in the amended list. No wonder, the list of taxes and levies for State Governments contained in Part II to the Schedule has increased by 14 from eleven (11) to twenty-five (25). This astronomic rise, is regarded in official circles as harmonisation of taxes and levies but critics see it as legalisation of multiplicity of taxes. In contrast to the states, the taxes and levies contained in Part I for the Federal Government merely increased from eight to nine while Part III for local governments increased from twenty to twenty-one.

    Furthermore, a 4th Schedule contains 6 levies that are to be harmonised among the State and Local Governments, where applicable. Besides, members of the Joint Tax Board are to advise the Minister of Finance on determining the amounts payable and review of rates from time to time with due cognisance to changes in economic trends in the country.

    For instance, the Social Services Contribution Levy is a creation of the Rivers State Social Services Contributory Levy Law of 2010. The law later became a matter of litigation and the High Court in Port Harcourt subsequently struck out the suit instituted by the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law on 19/8/2012 due to lack of locus standi. Rivers State has caused the JTB to prevail on the Minister of Finance to include this levy as No. 24 of Part II of the Schedule to the Act as amended by the 2015 Order. The Rivers State Social Services Contributory Levy Law is too harsh in its punitive provision as contained in section 19, which provides:  (1)  A company or organisation who fails or neglects to deduct from its employees and remit the levies due, shall be liable to a fine of three times the total deduction due;  (2)  A person who defaults in the payment of levy imposed shall after notice by the Board be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of twice the levy imposed or imprisonment for one year.

    The Land Use Charge, which is a tax harmonisation enterprise between the Lagos State Government and its local government councils in respect of tenement rate and ground rent, has been included as No. 12 in the new Part II of the Schedule. Hotel, Restaurant or Event Centre Consumption Tax, which originally became controversial in Lagos before stakeholders gradually accepted it, is now No. 13 in Part II of the Schedule. Ogun and Edo States have emulated Lagos and enacted their own variants of the Law. Some States charge Entertainment Tax and in order to accommodate their own nomenclature, Entertainment Tax is distinct and chargeable on a taxpayer.

    Although it will be foolish to do so, a State may charge Entertainment Levy as well as Hotel, Restaurant or Event Centre Consumption Tax. Also of significance is the No. 7 levy in the new Part II of the Schedule, which has revised the previous levy on business premises. The amended provision reads:

    Business premises registration fee in respect of urban and rural areas which includes registration fees and per annum renewals as fixed by each state.

    The obvious implication is that a State may increase the Business Premises Levy from the maximum sum of N10,000 for registration to N50,000 or N100,000. Each State is also at liberty to revise the renewal fee to any sum it deems fit.

    No. 25 on the List contained in the new Part II of the Schedule is “Signages and Mobile Advertisement.” This means basically payment for signages such as signboards, billboards, posters, etc. A local government is also empowered under No. 20 of the new Part III of the Schedule to collect signboard and advertisement permit fees. There is no better example of multiplicity of levies than this. A similar relationship exists for a business operating in a riverine or coastal environment like Lagos or Port Harcourt. He will pay Wharf Land charge to a Local Government as legalised by No. 21 on the Part III List of the Schedule, pay Wharf Landing Fee as approved by paragraph 2(c) of Part IV of the Schedule. Besides, he will pay for sticker [see 2(a), Part IV], Haulage Fee [See para. 2(b), Part IV], single Parking Permit [see para. 2(d), Part IV], road worthiness [see para. 2(f), Part IV], Environmental (Ecological) Fee or Levy [see No. 15, Part II], Fire Service Charge (no. 21, Part II), Infrastructural Maintenance Levy (where applicable) (No. 20, Part II), Economic Development Levy (where applicable) (No. 23, Part II), Road Taxes (No. 6, Part II), Personal Income Tax (No. 1, Part II or No. 8, Part I), Withholding Tax (No. 2, Part II or No. 2, Part I), Companies Income Tax (where applicable) (No. 1, Part I), Business Premises Levy (No. 7, Part II), Vehicle radio licence fees (No. 15, Part III), Motor Park Levies (No. 9, Part III), Wrong Parking Charges (No. 16, Part III) (where the vehicle parks wrongly), etc.

    With a total list of 61 taxes, levies, fees and charges contained in the Schedule to the new Order (9 in Part I, 25 in Part II, 21 in Part III, and 6 in Part IV), leading to an increase of 22 taxes and levies from the previous 39 to the current 61, is this what the MAN bargained for when it presented its petition to NEC on 29th January, 2013? Is this the meaning of harmonisation of taxes? Or should it be understood as legalisation of multiple taxes and levies? Let the debate continue!

     

     

  • Ayade abolishes taxes for low income earners

    Ayade abolishes taxes for low income earners

    Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade yesterday announced that low-income earners will no longer pay taxes.

    Ayade told reporters in Calabar, the state capital, that a bill to this effect was before the House of Assembly.

    The governor said the poor could not continue to suffer while the rich keep amassing wealth without giving back, describing the bill as people-oriented.

    Those affected by the tax exemption policy include civil servants on minimum wage, petty traders, commercial motorcyclists and recharge card vendors, among others.

    Governor Ayade said: “Let our desperation for taxation not allow us to heap the burden on the poor. This must stop. Definitely, God has a purpose of bringing me here as a governor and I must not disappoint my creator.”

    Continuing, he said: “I expect commercial motorcyclists to live within the confines of the law when the bill becomes operational as they will be expected to drive and earn a good living.”

    He said plans have reached advanced stage to explore the state’s waterfront to generate revenue to boost and cushion the effect of the new tax regime.

    On the eight-month strike by Judiciary workers, Ayade said the issue had been looked into as their salaries and other entitlements would be settled by end of August.

    He urged them to reciprocate the government’s gesture by returning to work as soon as possible.

    On the proposed signature projects, the governor said construction had commenced, adding that President Muhammed Buhari would perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the dual carriage superhighway in September.

    Ayade hailed Buhari for displaying maturity in leadership by keeping to his promise of being a President for all.

     

     

  • Ekiti hoteliers, shop owners groan over multiple taxes

    •CSOs set up tax justice panel to check fraud

    Hoteliers, shop owners and traders in Ekiti State are troubled by what they have described as multiple taxations by government agencies.

    They voiced their concerns at the inauguration of the State Tax Justice and Governance Platform by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with the New Initiative for Social Development (NISD) in Ado Ekiti, the state capital on Friday.

    NISD’s Executive Director Abiodun Oyeleye emerged as the chairman of the state Tax Justice and Governance Platform, with members  from other civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, trade associations and trade unions.

    At the event, stakeholders  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate and make representation to government agencies to ensure that citizens pay the right taxes.

    Chairman of the state Hoteliers Association of Nigeria Samuel Olakorede said hotel owners pay not less than seven taxes concurrently to federal, state and local governments agencies.

    Governmental organisations collecting taxes from hoteliers at the same time, according to Olakorede, include the State Signage Agency, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Tourism Board, Ministry of Commerce, Water Corporation, Ministry of Environment and  local governments.

    Some market women at the parley also complained that they pay taxes to multiple sources, saying that some tax officials refused to issue them valid receipts.

    Speaking shortly before the inauguration, CISLAC Senior Programmes Officer Kolawole Banwo said the move was not to challenge the government from collecting taxes but to ensure that citizens pay what is due to them.

    Banwo, who is the project coordinator of the Capacity for Research and Advocacy for Fair Taxation (CRAFT), said Ekiti was the eighth state where such platform would be inaugurated.

    He said CISLAC targets the 17 states in the South.

    “CRAFT is an offshoot of the global tax justice campaign. All over the world, there is no way to sustainable development other than tax because dependence on loans and aid has become a big problem to developing countries,” Banwo said.

    “What African countries lose is more than the aid they receive and a global campaign has commenced to ensure that the multinationals pay the right taxes.

    “While the government is after revenue, we are after tax justice and what we are advocating is that let people pay what they are due to pay

    “Every tax must be tied to a law because tax is a matter of law and the question to ask here is: what are the taxes that are legal in Ekiti State?

    “The law should stipulate who to collect tax, how to collect it and the frequency of the collection. People should have places where they can report tax injustice.”

    He also urged Nigerians to always hold governments  accountable on the taxes they pay and how they are spent.

     

  • Reduce taxes for private schools, owners urge

    Private schools under the umbrella of the Association of Formidable Educational Development (AFED) have urged the Federal Government to enact low-cost mass education model policies to be able to sustain low cost educational services.

    These policies, they said, should incorporate the establishment of an education bank with low interest or non-interest rates, grants, loans for the services providers, training and capacity building and reduction in tax.

    Its National President, Mrs Ifejola Dada, said this at a briefing to mark the one-week Eighth National Congress of AFED.

    The congress, which holds tomorrow, has as theme: “The AFED low-cost mass education model sustainability measure in the era of global economic recession.”

    She said: “We are faced with double taxation from the government. We should be tax-free because we are low-cost services providers. The government should not allow their agencies to encroach into our schools.

    “They will say we should pay for water, dustbin waste, gutter waste and so many other taxes and they will tell you right away that you must have many toilets or else they will close down your school and will still collect money from you. Which purse is that money going to? We really need the government to come to our aid because we ae assisting them to provide quality education for all.

    “We charge as low as N5, 000 for school fees; in Epe, N3, 000. Money for approval has increased and that means we have to increase school fees thereby sending the children back to the streets. If the government can pay N39,000 per child in government schools they can as well assist us.

    “We discover that there are many children hawking on the street. We want the local government to ensure that they don’t allow children to hawk.”

  • Proprietors, Ondo Govt row over taxes

    Members of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Ondo State are in a row with the state government over alleged hostile policies against them.

    Consequently, they have been staging protests over what they called heavy taxation imposed on them by the state government.

    Members of the association who expressed their grievances by marching from Igbatoro road to the state secretariat last Thursday were however prevented from proceeding to the governor’s office by armed policemen.

    The Union had earlier given a seven-day ultimatum (which elapsed last Tuesday) to the state government to reverse its policies and reduce the taxes or risk issues that could negatively affect the education sector in the state.

    Addressing reporters during the protest, NAPSS President, Goke Orimoloye, said the taxes collected from schools by the government was affecting the smooth development of private educational institutions in the state.

    Orimoloye said the government is collecting an aggregate tax of N3 million annually from an average private school.

    He complained that the schools pay huge sums of money to the state government, Ministry of Education and the local governments on the same form of taxation.

    The NAPPS President said, “The Board of Internal Revenue collects N2,000,000 yearly, we pay the Ministry of Education a renewal college fee for (college) N125,000 and N80,000 for Primary.

    “We pay N30,000 to the local government on  Business Premises. The Ministry of Education also collect N90,000 for JSS 3 Examination for 60 Students, while SS 2 Examination we pay N55,000 for 55 students.

    “For the Primary six School examination, the ministry of education also collects from us, N50,000 for 50 pupils. Our Tenement rates which we pay to the local government is between N50,000 to N120,000 yearly. Local government vehicle document (mobile advert) is N20,000. Signage to the Board of Internal Revenue is N15,000.

    “Rebranding of vehicle in FRSC colour (per bus) N150,000; we are also paying re-accredication fees for Colleges to the Ministry of Education for N50,000 and Primary for N30,000. For Sanitation we pay N50,000. In total, the ministry of education is collecting N480,000 yearly from us, local government, N50,000, Board of internal revenue, N2,015,200; FRSC, N150,000 and Ministry of Environment, N50,000.”

    Orimoloye condemned the tactics the government agents employed in collecting the taxes, saying sometimes they would lock up the schools and chase away their students.

    He also flayed the government for not listening to their complaints.

    “Rather than given us an audience, they have resorted to threats, intimidation and harassment of our members. The meeting that was held was a ploy by the government to frustrate our protest rally and those that attended the meeting are in government pay-roll or officials of the government.

    He noted that the issue of re-accreditation fee for secondary schools came up few weeks ago when the government directed them to pay N50,000 for accreditation to serve as WAEC centres – including schools that had been accredited before.

    Orimoloye said it was only in Ondo State that private school proprietors were charged heavily when compared with other states in the south west.

    “For instance, we are paying N125,000 for renewal fee, while other states like Ekiti pay N39,000, Edo, N11,000, Osun, N30,000 and presently Ogun is not collecting renewal fees from proprietors,” he said.

    He also said that all attempts by the association to dialogue with Governor Olusegun Mimiko had failed as they were denied access to see him unlike their counterparts like NURTW, ACCOMORON among others.

    Orimoloye said the government had failed to realize that private schools were providing unemployment to young graduates, urging the government to stop treating them like a prisoners in their own state.

    Reacting, the Commissioner for Education, Jide Adejuyigbe said that the state government would constitute a seven-member committee, including NAPSS, to deliberate with a view to resolving the conflict amicably.

     

  • Show us what you’ve done with our taxes’

    Show us what you’ve done with our taxes’

    They have no problems paying tax. Their only worry is whether their remittances are put to good use.

    That was why residents of Bwari Area Council have demanded that administrators of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) be transparent and accountable in handling their taxes.

    The residents said they were aware of the obligation to pay taxes but it was important for the FCTA to prove to the public the taxes were judiciously used.

    Some of the residents who lamented over multiple taxes spoke at the popular Kubwa market and Mpape District respectively during a community mobilization campaign for tax. The sensitization was organized by Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP) with support from Christian Aid.

    Mr. Solomon Terfa who spoke to The Nation at the market advocated need for tax justice. He said government should stop tax abuse and digitize tax administration.

    A trader, Mr. Kolawole Oloyede said for the government to achieve quality public services, taxes should be managed with utmost fairness.

    At Mpape district, a female trader, Miss Adaugo Ogamba who specializes in women wears emphasized that government should promote progressive and fair taxation.

    “Make our tax system gender sensitive,” she added.

    Mr. Johnson Igbokwe stated that payment of tax ought to foster development.

    He said many time, government demands for taxes such as withholding tax, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Import Duty, Value Added Tax, Environmental Levy, Excise Duty, Registration Fees and Local Excise Duty (LED) with little accountability.

    “With all these taxes the government collects from us, we still do not have access to good roads and good living. We need to know how, when and where our money is been used. It is our right to know,” he stated.

    The Executive Director, CAPP Kyauta Giwa, said the event was organized to encourage tax payment and demand for justice in taxation in the country.

    “We realise that government finds every means to get income through tax so we are interested in encouraging accountability in tax payment.People should understand why they are paying money and they should pay the correct tax, not double or multiple taxes”.

    According to her, the initiative was at its pilot stage to sensitize the people on reasons they should pay tax. So far, he said different unions such as Market Women and Men Association, Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Riders an Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN).

    She said about 18 representatives from the associations have emerged as advocates, who will thereafter demand for accountability on tax paid to the council.

    Giwa who was represented by Programme Officer, Stephen Olanrewaju stated that after a while the public are expected to be enlightened on the kind of taxes they pay.

    She said, “If there is any kind of injustice, they will report to us and we will engage a consultant who will carry out rapid assessment to determine gaps between the market people and revenue activities.”

    She added that CAPP would soon come up with a policy brief which will be submitted to the government on strengthening and monitoring taxation.