FG Approves Harmonised Taxes, Levies as CITN Opposes Use of Foreign Tax Consultants

President Goodluck Jonathan has promised that a harmonised tax and levy regime would soon be introduced across the country.

He said the federal government had approved the strengthening and harmonisation of taxes and levies across to shield small and medium enterprises from volatile operating environment.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja at the opening of the 17th Annual Conference of Tax Administrators organised by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CITN), Jonathan explained that the resolve to strengthen and harmonise taxes and levies in across the country was taken Wednesday at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting where it was agreed that SMEs should not be put out of business with unfair taxes.

Represented by the Minister of State for Finance, Alhaji Bashir Yuguda, he said in spite of the recent rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, the federal government was working to boost the tax to GDP ratio by 20 per cent.

He added that government had realised that “there are lots of avenues to raise GDP and revenue without multiple and unfair taxation of SMEs, which are the bed rock of every nation’s economic development.”

President Jonathan’s assurance came as members of the CITN led by former Accountant General of the Federation Mr. Kayode Nayeju and Prof. Abiola Sani, legal adviser to the CITN all vehemently kicked against the engagement of a foreign firm to help shape the country’s tax administration system.

The federal government had last year engaged McKinsey and Company to conduct the diagnostics appraisal of the tax system. It firm reported among other things that 65 per cent of registered taxpayers had not filed returns for the past two years while 75 per cent of registered small and medium size business were not captured in the tax net while 30 per cent of companies operating under the pioneer status incentive abused tax exempt status.

Sani had contended that there were adequate and capable Nigerian firms that could have done what McKinsey was contracted to offer.