- Safiu Kehinde
Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has stated that the controversial tax reform bills are not intended to generated revenue.
Oyedele made this known during his presentation at the Town Hall Debate organized by Channels TV over the tax reform bills on Monday.
He allayed concerns of Northern leaders and other stakeholders that the bills will only benefit Lagos and Rivers states while others- especially the Northern region, will be impoverished.
Oyedele explained that the bills were intended to fix the economy in a way that there can be shared prosperity, adding that the reform is targeted at generating tax from high income earners.
He noted that the current tax laws operational in the country is out of vogue as some of its provisions dating back to the colonial era.
“The primary of the reform is not to generate more revenue. It is to fix the economy in a way that there can be shared prosperity.
“If your businesses are growing, expanding within and outside the shores of the country; if our individuals are earning and thriving, then taxes will be a natural consequences for their prosperity. That is really the fundamental objective of the reform.
“One of the derivables of this work is the realization that we have tax laws that are very old and no longer fit for purpose- including those inherited from our colonial masters.
“So we used the opportunity of this reform to rewrite those laws so that the laws are made by Nigerians and for Nigeria to be able to drive our prosperity going forward. And that was what led to the four bills that we have today.” Oyedele explained.
The Committee Chairman further reinstated the benefits of the bills which were also highlighted during his presentation.
“The bills are looking to exempt low income earners completely from tax- those earning N83,000 per month or N1 million a year.
“It also seek to eliminate multiple taxation; to harmonize tax processes across all levels of government; to rename Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to Nigeria Revenue Service; and to create joint revenue board to streamline tax administration.” Oyedele added.
Meanwhile, other panelists at the debate include former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, CEO, Global Investment and Trade Policy, Baba Yusuf, and Public Affairs Analyst, Michael Chibuzor