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Govt should focus more on tax –NBS

By on May 13, 2015

The Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, National Bureau of Statistics, Dr. Yemi Kale, says the only sustainable source of revenue for any government that wants to develop is tax.

Amid the declining oil revenue, he advised Nigerians to pay their taxes regardless of what they were used for.

Kale stated this in Lagos during his keynote address at a forum themed, ‘Post-election discussion series: Options and possibilities for government revenue growth and efficiency’.

The forum was organised by BudgIT.

He said, “There are different sources of revenue for government. The question is: what is the optimum source of revenue? It has to be stable, predictable and sustainable. And in most countries, you find out that tax revenue is dominant because it covers most of these criteria.

“The only sustainable source of revenue to any government that wants to develop is tax. The taxes should be paid. You are meant to pay your taxes regardless of what it is used for.”

According to Kale, the country will overcome its challenges including those that have to do with generating the needed revenue for growth and development.

The Chief Executive Officer, RTC Advisory, Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje, who was also at the forum, said the Federal Government might need to show more transparency in public spending if it hoped to impose more taxes on the citizens.

According to him, as Nigerians start to pay more taxes, the government will be required to make more public utilities available to the people.

Agbaje recommended diversification of the domestic production structure and government revenue as the way forward for the country.

He said, “Diversification of the domestic production by removing fuel subsidy; we should have done it four years ago. We can privatise government refineries and invest in petro-chemicals. Direct investment in solid minerals is important. We have huge solid minerals that can create jobs and increase government revenue.”

He also advised the incoming government not to discredit the power sector privatisation, adding that “it will be a huge mistake to reverse the power sector privatisation.

“Power is best kept in the hands of the private sector. We need to remove all impediments to power and get the power working in terms of gas, transmission and tariff,” he said.

 

[Punch]