Multiple taxation, levies hinder business growth in Imo
Multiple taxation, levies and unrestricted extortion and harassment of the business community by the agents of government all combined together to take toll of business growth in Imo State, and may force traders and investors to close shop especially in Owerri, the state capital and its environs.
Investors and industrialists in Owerri municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West local government areas as well as members of the Imo State Hoteliers Association (ISHA) who spoke to Business a.m. on condition of anonymity said “what we are facing today is not different from what we saw during the harsh past administration of former Governor Rochas Okorocha
During Okorocha’s regime many companies and traders closed shops due to multiple taxation, multiple levies and unrestricted extortion and harassment of business community by the agents of government. The near complete closure of the the Onitsha-Owerri Road Industrial Layout in Irete, Owerri West local government area is a typical example of what we are facing today because Okorocha paid lip service to industrial development despite the noise his adOWERRI ministration made about industrial development of Imo state , they said
During the reign of Okorocha, the administration also paid lip service to the hotel and leisure subsector of the Imo economy despite the repeated calls by Chima Chukwunyere the chairman of the Imo State Hoteliers Association (ISHA) to Okorocha government to check the multiple taxation, illegal rates, the unrestricted harassment and extortion of its members by those who claimed to be agents of government but Okorocha and his government were unperturbed by the complaints of this sector.
Also few weeks to the end of the Okorocha government he introduced “PurchaseTax”or “Sales Tax” and mandated members of the ISHA to implemented but ISHA complained that Okorocha government ought to have called them or called a public hearing before signing it into law and as a result the association threatened to challenge the Purchase Tax in a court of law.
Now came Emeka Ihedioha as governor. During his guber campaigns, he promised to partner with hotels and transportation entrepreneurs to transform Owerri into a conferencing, hospitality, and entertainment hub of the South East and South South geopolitical zones of the country, by eliminating all harsh condition against industrial and business growth.
During the celebration of his 100 days in office as governor, he told Imo people, “we have also listened to your issues on multiple taxation and commenced a tax harmonisation exercise in a bid to eliminate multiple taxation and streamline taxes in a manner that will only focus on the most relevant taxes to be paid”.
But Business a.m. investigations reveal that those who claimed to be acting on behalf of the government of Emeka Ihedioha or his tax agents have gone deep into the demand of multiple taxation and levies as well as extortion of traders.
Also in an interactive session between traders in Owerri and Johnbosco Okezie Okeahialam, the commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Entrepreneurship, the traders called on the government to save their business from dieing as a result of multiple taxation. They urged government to bring out a streamlined tax payment system that would help to check the continued multiple taxation.
They also urged government not to meddle in their election to produce their market leaders and requested that government should make the markets have facilities like power, toilets, good roads, etc.
Meanwhile, Chima Chukwunyere, Chairman of Imo State Hoteliers Association, has frowned at the continued multiple taxation in the state and argued that what Emeka Ihedioha as the Governor should have done was to ban or suspend all forms of tax demands and collections and come out with a system of tax demand and payment to save the remaining businesses in Owerri.
He said that with what is going on in the state-harassment of traders, extortion, multiple taxation and levies, many businesses will collapse.