Zainab Ahmed: Global tax rules skewed against developing countries

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance budget and national planning, says global tax rules are uneven, especially for developing countries. 

The minister said this on Monday at the 42nd Annual Technical Conference of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) in Abuja.

Ahmed said the current international tax rules were skewed against some countries, particularly developing nations, including Nigeria.

She also said taxation was a matter of domestic law, adding that disputes arising from the interpretation of domestic legislation should only be resolved within those domestic legislations and by people properly schooled to interpret them.

According to Ahmed, Nigeria is committed to working with other jurisdictions and international bodies to achieve a win-win solution in the contentious matter.

She also called on the CATA to join forces with Nigeria in insisting that the skewed international tax rules be put in order for the good of all.

“Painfully, the skewness in the current international tax rules is again influencing the two-pillar solution of the inclusive framework,” she said.

“We have observed, for instance, that “Amount A” profit meant for market jurisdictions is progressively being chipped away in favour of jurisdictions where the multinationals are resident.

“Another example of skewness of the ‘Amount A’, rules are the requirement for jurisdictions to surrender domestic tax disputes to the mandatory and binding ruling of an arbitration panel composed and sitting outside the legal system of the respective jurisdictions.

“The discussion to change the rules must start now; the world must rework the profit allocation rules used for transfer pricing and the sharing of taxing rights by tax treaty partners.

“Nigeria is of the view that CATA is that organisation that is best placed to start this dialogue. Nigeria is committed to working with other jurisdictions and international bodies to achieve a win-win solution.

“The ‘Amount A’ proposal being developed by the Inclusive Framework is not achieving consensus because it is founded on win-lose principles. Only rules that promote a win-win situation can achieve the support of all.”

Honorable Minister of Finance, @ZShamsuna makes a case for fairness and equity in the proposed 2-pillar solution of the OECD solution to taxation of the Digital Economy, she further calls for CATA to push to make this happen. #42ndCATAConference pic.twitter.com/wEYket0IT5

— Johannes Tobi Wojuola (@Johannxs) November 28, 2022

The minister, however, said countries must cast aside their differences or individual self-interest to jointly develop a workable, simple, and fair solution to the challenges confronting taxation.

She also highlighted other problematic areas, which include the digitalisation of tax administration, fair international tax rules, capacity development, and nomad workers.

She, therefore, urged delegates and experts to come up with an actionable communique that would help the government in formulating appropriate policies.

On his part, Muhammad Nami, executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), said harmonisation of tax systems was on the front burner of the fiscal conversations in many jurisdictions.

Nami, who also doubles as the president of CATA, added that the harmonisation must happen for the governments to plug leakages and shore up revenue.

“Some jurisdictions have achieved this, and they testify to its advantage over the fragmented system. Others need to learn how, why and what jurisdictions that have harmonised their tax systems have to share,” he said.

He said the upsurge of disruptive technological innovations in the business environment have triggered peculiar issues.

He said the business world was in a state of flux while the character of data and its management kept changing as tax administrators remained under compulsion to align their mandates with the changes arising from technological advancements.

Nami added that in matching the pace of technology advancement, tax administrators must remain bound by the laws, regulations, and codes that safeguard sourcing, storage, processing, and management of data.