June 13, 2019 – Sunmola David & CO

City businesses campaigning against rising property tax bills

The debate over increasing property taxes continues to intensify and for some Calgary business owners, it’s a fight to keep their business alive. A new social media campaign called “Sorry, Calgary is closing” launched this week and calls for businesses to band together against skyrocketing tax increases. Barre Belle co-founder Kristi Stuart said her property taxes have gone up 15 per cent from 2017 to 2018. She hasn’t received her assessment for 2019 but was told it would be even higher. Two of her fitness studios could be on the brink of closing. “This is the final punch that’s going to knock us out, and everybody’s really mad,” Stuart said Thursday. Stuart and other small business owners have organized a rally for Monday at 7:30 a.m. outside city hall. According to Stuart, the timing is not coincidental. “The reason we’re doing it at 7:30 is because when councillors come into work, I want them to look at the faces that these property tax increases are going to affect,” she said. “Seeing council not respect our city like the way we’re respecting our businesses is irresponsible… In a couple of months, you could go to your favourite shop and it may not be there. We’re trying to be proactive instead of reactive and say, ‘Listen, council, this is not going to fly.’ She’s also behind a petition calling on the provincial government to fire all of Calgary city council, including the mayor. Premier Jason Kenney has said he will not be firing them but Stuart said enough is enough. Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra said council is very aware of the frustrations and its why they have planned an emergency meeting Monday to deal with the tax crisis. “There’s a lot of shock,” he said. “People are feeling gut-punched and they’re feeling freaked out… We’re proposing a final one-year fix that will hold our tax levels at 2018 levels. “The fix, however, would be a temporary one. Source: Global News

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Tax probe: RMAFC, workers disagree over consultants’ engagement

Tax news / Tobi Aminu

Workers of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission have disagreed with the management of the organization over the use of consultants to probe banks for failure to remit all they collect on behalf of the government agencies in charge of taxes and levies. The workers had staged protests for two days last week where they drew the attention of the management and members of the public to the plight of the workers whom they alleged were being rendered redundant through the use of consultants in what should have been their sphere of influence. Following the two-day protests, the management of RMAFC opened a consultation with the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, RMAFC Chapter. Chapter President of the association, Mr Martin Adeoye, in an interview with our correspondent, said that the talk would continue as it had not yet produced the required results. Adeoye said that the association was not completely against the use of consultants by the management of RMAFC to do its work but added that a situation where the workers were completely neglected was not acceptable. He said, “If they attach two or three members of staff to a consulting firm, we would not be angry. It is by embedding members of staff among the consultants that the capacity of the workers is built. If they completely neglect us, why are we here?” Adeoye said that the organization had almost 1,000 workers scattered in different parts of the country, adding that if they were adequately trained and deployed, consultants would not always be needed for the verification exercises that were carried on by the agency from time to time. He disclosed that the association would continue the talks with the board of RMAFC which he said would soon be inaugurated following the screening of the members by the National Assembly. The various probes instituted by RMAFC into tax remittances by banks, withholding taxes and Value Added Tax, had to the recovery of N268bn into the federation account. According to the agency, the recent verification and reconciliation of collections by banks had led to the recovery of over N73bn recently. Source: Punch

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Alleged tax evasion: Court fixes October 10 for Nollywood actress’ trial

Tax news / Tobi Aminu

An Igbosere High Court, Lagos State, on Thursday fixed October 10 for the trial of a Nollywood actress, Monalisa Chinda-Coker, over alleged tax evasion. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that trial was earlier fixed for June 5, but could not hold due to the Eid-el-Fitr holiday. At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the court fixed October 10 as the new date for trial. Chinda-Coker is facing two charges of failure to file annual tax returns and failure to pay income tax in respect of her company, Monalisa Code Productions. The alleged offences contravened Section 94(1) of the Personal Income Tax Act 2004 (as amended) and Section 56 of the Lagos State Revenue Administrative Law of 2006. Source: Punch

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Nigeria’s tax structure not investment-friendly, says LCCI

Tax news / Tobi Aminu

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has faulted the renewed tax drive in the Nigerian economy, saying that it was focused more on investors than consumers. The chamber stated this in a document setting economic diversification agenda for the Federal Government on Sunday. In the document signed by the Director General, LCCI, Mr MudaYusuf, the chamber stated, “The Federal Inland Revenue Service has scant regard for due process in its drive for revenue. It is, therefore, inherently a disincentive to investment and economic diversification. “The three tiers of government target investors more than consumers. This is not in consonance with best practice principles in taxation.” In an economy which is almost 50 per cent informal, the taxation structure is not investment-friendly, the chamber maintained, recommending that the tax structure should be reversed to aid economic diversification. Yusuf faulted the use of banks as collection agents for the FIRS, noting that it was very disruptive, distracting, arbitrary, oppressive and unfair to investors. The LCCI insisted that such practice was a serious disincentive to investment and the promotion of financial inclusion. “This approach should be discontinued. Taxation should not be seen only as an instrument of revenue generation; it is also a potent instrument for stimulation of investment,” he said. The chamber stressed that for there to be a sustainable economic diversification, the government needed to get the policies, institutions and infrastructure right and ensure they were properly aligned. It added that the policy mix must be right for the desired outcomes to be achieved. He advised the Central Bank of Nigeria to moderate its monetary tightening stance adding that this would moderate interest rate and also drive domestic investment. He said, “It is difficult to drive domestic investment at current levels of interest rate which is well over 25 per cent for most economic players. The economy needs investment, especially domestic direct investment to drive diversification.” He advised against a foreign exchange regime that ‘perpetuates a rent economy’, saying that it created opportunities for arbitrage, corruption, resource misallocation, impeded the inflow of investment, and created transparency issues in the allocation of forex. “The current multiplicity of rates is inimical to sustainable economic diversification,” he pointed out. The chamber advised that trade policies that determine exports and imports should be guided by sect oral competitive and comparative advantage. “Institutional capacity to enforce the policies should also be considered in trade policy formulation. The Nigeria Customs Service needs to demonstrate better sensitivity to the plight of investors. “One of the biggest headaches of the business community is the Nigeria Customs Service. Policies should be focused on incentivizing resource-based industries which typically have a competitive advantage and good impact on the economy because of the high multiplier effect. The relativity of tariffs between Nigeria and the neighboring countries should also be considered in the formulation of trade policy.” Yusuf advised that procurement policy should be structured to favor sectors that had the potential to be diversification champions as well as leading backward integration firms. He advised government agencies to facilitate investment growth rather than see themselves as revenue generating organs. Source: Punch

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