Tobi Aminu

Tax authorities in the country have been warned against scaring off foreign investors from the country in their efforts to shore up government revenues. The Managing Consultant, Pedabo Associates Limited, Mr Albert Folorunsho, said the global tax compliance drive would have implications for Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria. Folorunsho stated this while delivering a keynote paper at the investiture of Dr Titilayo Fowokan as the third state chairperson of the Society of Women in Taxation (Lagos Chapter) on Saturday. “Nigeria is not isolated from the global tax drive to boost revenue and prevent base erosion and shifting of profit from Nigeria to other tax jurisdictions,” he said. He said Nigeria and over 100 countries signed the multilateral instrument on prevention of profit shifting, adding that some measures were adopted by the Federal Inland Revenue Service from the global tax approach. Folorunsho noted that the FIRS had introduced other measures aimed at increasing tax revenue including plans to start charging Value Added Tax on all online transactions and strict enforcement of tax payment by placing lien on taxpayers’ accounts. He said, “Tax-related issues that can affect Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria negatively are dividend tax; multiplicity of taxation by various organs of government; lack of advance tax rulings on certain issues; ambiguity in tax laws; wrong interpretation and application of the tax laws; uncertain tax regime, and circle of unending tax audits/investigations by tax authorities.” According to him, for Nigeria, FDI will be more affected by the approach of local tax regulators than the global tax drive. “This is because the global approach to tax drive is yet to be enacted into our local laws to make them applicable and effective in our environment,” Folorunsho said. He said the implication of the global tax drive by other jurisdictions for Nigeria might be positive if the country could operate a more friendly tax environment based on the existing tax laws. “However, aggressive tax drive by tax authorities can impact FDI negatively. Unhealthy approach to tax drive will scare investors from Nigerian economy. Though there has not been significant decrease in FDI to Nigeria for some years, tax drive cannot be said to be the factor responsible for the decreased inflow. Uncertain tax regime or hidden taxes will discourage FDI,” he added. According to Folorunsho, as the impact of the current global tax reform takes root, mobilisation of capital across jurisdictions will become fairer and more competitive. “Nigeria cannot achieve her full potential by increasing tax revenue alone. Government, in its effort to increase revenue generation through taxation, should always be mindful of its impact on the economic growth drivers, one of which is foreign direct investment,” he added. The President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Gladys Simplice, said the CITN would continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders towards sensitising all Nigerians on the need to pay their taxes. She said, “There is no hiding place for tax defaulters any more, in view of the increased collaboration among tax authorities and agencies towards ensuring that all corporate entities and individuals are brought into the tax net.   Source: Punch

The Technical Committee of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee will present a Finance Bill and Policy Note to Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Budget Planning as the committee ends its work soon. At the second sitting of the committee in Abuja, the Deputy Chairman of the technical committee, Dr. Bode Oyetunde said that the sub-committee would finish its work in the next 10 to 15 days. “This is the second committee meeting we are having and we hope to bring this meeting to a close in the next 10 to 15 days.“The general committee is headed by the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Tunde Fowler and the Comptroller-General of Custom, Hamid Ali is the Deputy Chairman. “Ambassador Adeolu Dipeolu, who is also the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Economic Matters in Vice President’s Office is the Chairman of the Technical-Sub-Committee. “We are working to put up a finance bill and policy note to the Minister of Finance, that would raise revenue and reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria, deal with some areas of tax inequity, deal with some areas in international taxation like profit shifting and base erosion”,  Oyetunde said. At their inauguration, Fowler charged the technical committee to work harmoniously to achieve a desired result: “I charge the Chairman and members of the Technical Committee with the responsibility of accelerating the drafting and submission of a draft Finance Bill and if deemed necessary, any draft Executive Order(s), to harmonize the various tax and excise law reform efforts. “It is our expectation that the Technical Committee will work assiduously over the next few weeks to produce a singular set of fiscal measures that will be considered and approved by the reconstituted NTPIC. “Once agreed, these fiscal measures are to be submitted to the Economic Management Team and the Federal Executive Council for approval and ultimate transmission to the National Assembly, for passage into law as part of the efforts to support the 2020 Executive Budget Proposal.” Other members of the NTPIC include: Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (Deputy Chairman); the Permanent Secretary (Finance) from Federal Ministry of Finance; Permanent Secretary (Special Duties); Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Justice; the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation; the Director-General of the Debt Management Office; the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Statistician-General of the National Bureau of Statistics; the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Investment Promotion Council; the Executive Secretary of the JTB; the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs and the Director (Legal) Federal Ministry of Finance.   Source; VON

Tax Justice and Governance Platform, an advocacy group of civil society organisations, which supports the growth of the internally generated revenue in Nigeria, has expressed its readiness to organise a three-day tax awareness training for traders in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Lagos State. The training would be part of the organisation’s efforts in widening the tax net, promoting tax education and compliance, and the monitoring of how revenues are spent on improving the lives of the citizenry. Speaking recently to journalists in Lagos, during a sensitization visit to Alade Market, the Executive Director, Development Animation Programme (DAP), Felix Obanubi, said it was high time traders understood tax system in the country. Obanubi, said the three-day programme which is a non-residential Training of Trainers (TOTs) for 40 participants would commence from September 17-19. He also said that the goal of the training was to introduce the principle of taxation to participants and reasons why developing countries need to have efficient tax systems. He added that at the end of the session, participants would be able to understand the different roles and responsibilities played by men and women in their communities. According to him: “The Lagos state chapter of the tax justice and governance platform, acknowledges the development strides of the past and present administration in Lagos state, especially in its aspiration to do more which is in tangent with its proposed budget of N873, 532,460,705 for the year 2019, we as a platform understand the need for the cooperation and compliance of the citizenry at large in making this financial aspiration of the Lagos state government a reality. “The goal is to strengthen citizens, LGA officials, market women and men to enhance voice and accountability for improved service delivery in the three selected LGAs namely; Ikeja, Alimosho and Ikorodu in Lagos state where citizens and especially market women and men will be mobilised through tax justice advocacy to effectively participate in and influence issues of tax justice and budget.”   Source: This day

More than 81 percent of taxable adults and businesses in Nigeria do not pay their income taxes due to low tax moral in the country, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has learnt.  This was disclosed in a presentation made by Research Director of the Fiscal Policy Roundtable of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG, Tayo Oyedele, yesterday (Wednesday) at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum Secretariat in Abuja. Oyedele, who was in the company of the Chairman of the Fiscal Policy Roundtable, Sarah Alade, had paid a courtesy call on the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Bayo Okauru, to solicit an opportunity to expose this sour narrative to the nation’s governors and seek their involvement to correct the ills that are denying the country of its collectible revenues.  Oyedele, who condemned the apathy of Nigerians on payment of taxes, said figures available to him reveal that there were 20 million registered taxpayers in the country, scoffing at the figure which seems paltry compared to the presumed nation’s population of nearly 200 million people.  While explaining the concept and reasons adduced to the nation’s low tax moral, the NESG boss disclosed, however, that nearly 85 percent of those who deem it unnecessary to pay taxes to the government willingly pay same to “non-government actors”.  This ironic twist, the NESG attributed to the distrust that pervades the environment when it comes to paying taxes, dues, and levies to a government that does not command the public trust.  Of the tiers of government on whose shoulders tax collection is placed, the research showed that local councils and their officials are among the most untrustworthy, followed by state governments and then the tax officials themselves.  “Many believe that it is unwise to pay taxes to entities that do not translate taxes to services or to officials who diverted same to personal use,” Oyedele stated while insisting that there were nonetheless 17 percent of the population who see the payment of taxes as a civic duty which all must perform.  Maintaining that there were 354 taxes in Nigeria, which create duplicity of taxes and favoritism on where to audit and where not to audit, not minding the unprofessional conduct of tax collectors, who sometimes threaten the public, NESG also regretted that the penalties for non-payment of taxes in Nigeria were not only unhurtful and not punitive enough, but that the processes of penalizing reluctant taxpayers were selective.  The NESG, therefore, recommended that it would have been better if the country minimized the tax regimes of the country from 354 to only 10, abrogating meaningless taxes as the ozone layer tax which the population can hardly understand.  According to the research, as narrated by the NESG, personal income taxpayers would have been happier to pay their taxes if education, health, and infrastructural provision were raised to global standards, while corporate taxpayers would love to see electricity, roads, and security improved.   Source: Sahara report

The Plateau State Board of Internal Revenue has generated N10. 7 billion between January and July 2019. Dashe Ariat, chairman of the board told journalist that this geometric increase came through a lot of efforts. ” We now meet the tax payers at their doorsteps, not waiting for them to come to us as it used to be. We have also recovered a backlog of revenue not remitted by tax audits and deliberately meeting taxpayers. There have been a lot of payments coming in through recovery.” “We have had effective collaborations with Ministries like Lands and Survey in April, their IGR has increased also, we are on the move. With the matching order of the governor on June 12, when he emphasised on three pillar policy and with economic rebirth as number three, we felt we cannot sit down and wait but we will work hard to ensure that the revenue surpasses the budget that was declared. N18bn was declared for the State entirely with the Service having N12bn as a component of it. We are already on N10.7bn.” Arlat further disclosed that in order for the target to be met, the state revenue service will be meeting with the tertiary institutions, Jos Metropolitan Development Board, ministry of agric, ministry of lands and survey and other ministries to make collaborative efforts. “There are a lot of gaps that are there and we know that we are not yet able to tap them especially in the transport sector of the economy. There are areas there that many of the owners of commercial transports are not on our searchlight, the drivers are not there as well as penalties for offenders on the road.” “You can see that people park in the town indiscriminately, we have met with the enforcers like the Road Safety and VIO to ensure that everywhere is orderly and by that, any defaulter would be a revenue base for us” he noted. “I am making reference to all sorts of vehicles especially the trucks that come into Jos and go out of Jos. Luxury buses that come into Jos and go out. We discovered that they don’t have parks for us to be able to get revenue. People turn the frontage of their homes to parks, most of the luxury buses going to Lagos and the Eastern part of Nigeria, they don’t have parks that government can hold unto that yes, you have to park here and pay us revenue.” Arlat who said the vehicle owner may be taxed N500 per day or N1000 for parking for more than a day said “We are working on creating parks for them through the Ministry of Transport to ensure that there are parks especially for the trucks which are causing menace to other road users. The drivers park, taking over one lane of the road completely, causing accidents, we have already secure places; Marahaban Ja’ama, Zaria Road, Bauchi Road, the former JIB, there is a very large parking space there. We are removing the trucks to those places, we have met with their union and they have agreed because they have already seen the need for that.” He also said street naming and house numbering will generate revenue as he disclosed that “80% of houses in Jos are not numbered, we don’t even have street names for the streets, we are embarking on streets naming and numbering of houses to ensure that the pay the ground rent adequately. There are also some other revenue that is associated with land issues and property; this year, we are moving in collaboration with all the Ministry to ensure that we get this revenue”.   Source: Business Live

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is empowered to assess and collect established tax liabilities from entities. The tax laws also empowered the tax authority to charge and collected administrative penalties such late returns penalty, penalty late payment, etc. Tax Authorities do not have powers to impose taxes, only a court of law can impose taxes, fines or charges upon conviction. Where there is an established tax liability against an entity or the tax liability assessed against an entity has become final and conclusive, but the entity failed to defray the tax liability, the Tax Authority can appoint any person or institution (e.g. banks) as an agent to collect the unpaid tax on its behalf from the entity. Also, an established tax liability (Companies Income Tax (CIT), Tertiary Education Tax (TET), Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Value Added Tax (VAT) and Withholding Tax (WHT)), of an entity can be recovered from:     the entity – e.g. XYZ LTD.     the any principal officer of the entity – e.g. Managing Director, CEO, etc.     the any person appointed by the entity as attorney, factor, agent or a representative.     a receiver or liquidator. While entities are to comply with the provisions of the tax laws in terms of filing and payment of taxes, it is important to state that, no Tax Authority has powers or right to place lien on the bank account of an entity where a tax liability is yet to be established or when a tax liability is in dispute.   Source: Punch

The President, Coker Building Materials and Allied Products, Mr. Justin Okpani, has said that his administration inherited disunited union at inception. He observed that traders in Coker Building Materials Market were solving their problems individually making the ability to have some of them resolved in their favour near impossible. Speaking exclusively to PropertyMart at the inauguration of the new executive at the market, Okpani who also doubles as the Managing Director of Joemed Global Concepts Ltd, returned with his team for a second term said they inherited various taxes and levies imposed on members of the union by the Local Government. He said, the union under his presidency contested the taxes and levies which were new with the local government but because the union was not as united as it should, the matter was settled in favour of the government. According to him, those taxes and levels vis-avis the fact that they were not how they used to be, was not acceptable to the union. “They kept collecting the double taxes and we took it upon ourselves to meet with them to discuss. Although, they eventually had their way, the Union did not find it funny. Another time was when there was increase in what we pay as trade permit. There was a 70 per cent increase which we also took up and discussed with the government authorities to reduce it to a reasonable amount so as to cut down the challenges we face in the market with regards to Nigeria’s current economic status. They again did not oblige us because they had their way, so it has remained like that,”he said. While fielding questions from PropertyMart on the handling of fake product merchants, the President said, Coker Building Materials traders are known for bringing in quality products. “Our major suppliers are from China. Initially, it used to be from Italy but because of the cost of Italian products, many people have now moved to China where the cost of production is relatively cheap. But then, all our products come here with good standards and they go through the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for testing. When it comes to standards, we are known for standard products. Yes, once in a while people from other markets bring in products that are substandards. Even the Chinese do import substandard products in the market and warehouse them and be coming to us to patronize them. But the Union through the Taskforce Unit always clamp down on them to see that such products do not penetrate into our own market,”he stated. In his respond, the Vice President of the Union and the Managing Director of Bluetech Limited, Mr. Oti Obinna while praying for the traders, said, “My advice to my colleagues in the market is for them to know that good name is better than riches. People should always do things knowing that their conscience should always guide them in whatever they do. It dose not stop at making money, it is about giving people, the teeming public, the customers; satisfaction for what they have paid for and then avoid cutting corners here and there, because the law will still catch up with whoever that does. Therefore, it is good for every trader to be upright in his business and do that which is genuine in the sight of God and sight of the law. “I want to tell my colleagues in the market is to tell them to be up and doing. “Be truthful in whatever things you are doing. Depending on your ability, try and be truthful and get that trust of your customers. Just be reliable so people will always believe you and trust that you are giving them your best,”he concluded.   Source: the sun