Nigeria’s tax laws ‘need to be reviewed’

Adebimpe Balogun, first female president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), says Nigeria’s tax laws need to be reviewed.

Speaking in Lagos on Wednesday, during the 8th Wole Soyinka Centre Media lecture, Balogun said a sustainable tax regime has to be dynamic.

She also challenged the government to be accountable and transparent on how taxes are being spent.

“We hardly review tax laws. In the UK, tax laws are reviewed yearly and once there is a perceived loophole, the act quickly amends that loophole,” she said.

Balogun advised that tax rate should not be increased, but that tax base be expanded.

She also encouraged the media to sensitise the public on the importance of performing the civic duty of tax payment.

Balogun said though government had been complaining about low revenue, some politicians still earn outrageous incomes.

“We are all screaming no money and the government says we need to tighten our belt and be more prudent. But we have government officials earning stupendous salaries and allowances,” she said.

Emuesiri Agbeyi, tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, advised the government to make tax laws simple and easy to read.

She said even as a tax practitioner, it is difficult to understand the intention of legislators who formulate tax laws.

She said tax in Nigeria only makes up 7% of the nations GDP, while in other OECD countries, the tax makes up about 31% of its total GDP.

Agbeyi also urged the media to strive towards balance and avoid discrimination.

Speaking on the role of the media in taxation, Simon Kolawole, chief executive officer of TheCable Newspaper, said the freedom of information act is not only for the media but for everybody to use in holding the government accountable.

He said government has to have a good relationship with the public and help create prosperity, saying the prosperity of a person or business, enhances the payment of tax, which in turn makes the country prosperous.

He emphasised that there is a difference between concession and compulsion.

Kolawole asked the media to educate the government and the public, and to also “push the sociology of taxation”, because every citizen has the right to demand information and transparency.

Other speakers at the event were Deremi Atanda, executive director of Systemspecs;  Enobong Gbadamosi, founder of NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women; Abubakar Jimoh, civil society activist; and Opeyemi Agbaje, senior consultant and chief executive officer of RTC Advisory Services.