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Multiple taxation discourages tax payment – DFID

By on March 20, 2014

The Department for International Development (DFID) yesterday identified multiple taxation as one of the factors that discourages people from paying tax in Nigeria.
According to the DFID, multiple taxation by different tiers of government and agencies, also leads to low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

The Southern Regional Coordinator of DFID, Dr Sina Fagbenro-Byron made the remark in Akure, Ondo State at the opening of South-west regional conference on IGR organised by the agency in collaboration with the Ondo State Government.

Fagbenro-Byron said the issue multiple taxation arises from lack of data infrastructure by government and its agencies. This, the DFID official argued makes people to attempt evading tax payment.

The coordinator said for states to generate enough fund and depend less on the federal allocations, tax regime should be made simple so that many people would be able to pay and understand what to pay.
He said state boards of internal revenue should be strengthened so as to provide one-stop shop for tax information and transactions, saying that effective and efficient use of information technology for comprehensive data base management is paramount.
Fagbenro-Byron said tax consultants collect more revenue for governments where they were engaged because of the statistical data they use in their operations.
Giving the breakdown of geo-political zones in terms of IGR in proportion to the total revenue, the coordinator said the percentage of IGR to total revenue during the period between 2007 and 2011 showed that the South-west recorded 26 per cent; North-west 11.6 per cent; South-east 10.9 per cent; North-central 9.8 per cent; South-south 9.5 per cent; and North-east 6.9 per cent.

He said the South-west accounted for 44.3 per cent (N926.6 billion) of the total IGR of all the geo- political zones within the period.
According to him, the IGR of the South-west between 2007 and 2011 which stood at N926.6 billion was more than what the four zones: North-west, North-east, South-east and North-central had during the same period. The IGR of the four zones during the period was put at N675.5 billion.
Specifically, he said Lagos state’s IGR was more than that the combined IGR of the North-west, North-east, North-central and South-east geo- political zones, which is made up of 24 states.
However, Fagbenro-Byron said while the picture may be rosy for the South-west compared to others, when compared with what should be the case and the potential for growth, the performance was still very poor.
Earlier in his opening remark, Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko put the current figure of the state’s IGR at N10 billion from the N3 billion it was in 2009.
Mimiko, who was represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, said the government is targeting a monthly IGR of N15 billion. He appealed to the people and corporate organisations to pay their taxes fully and promptly so that economic development can continue.

 

 

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