The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) said it is optimistic that the country will achieve sanity in the taxation space and end the multiplicity of taxes.
President and Chairman of Council, CITN, Samuel Agbeluyi said this during the institute’s 32nd yearly general meeting, held at its headquarters, in Lagos.
He said the current position of the taxation sector is in the state of moving forward, with the government no longer denying the reality of taxation.
Agbeluyi boasted how the institute’s continued advocacy had yielded dividends and ears of those in power, especially to the fact that the country could not survive solely on a mono-product economy.
“We have left the state of denial. The government is no longer denying the reality of taxation. Over 10 years ago the government was over-concentrated on oil revenue but with our advocacy yelling at the government that Nigeria could not survive a mono-product economy. It will be difficult at the early stage for the government to accept our proposal but I’m happy that the reality is here and the current government is taking the right step in the right direction to improve tax revenue.
“It is not just to improve tax revenue but to make the lives of the citizens better because the government requires a lot of money to do a lot of projects and public expenditure must be backed by the necessary revenue. Once that is done, we can bridge the infrastructural gap in the country, and having this done will make the country great,” he said.
The CITN boss advised the sub-nationals to flow with what the federal government is doing to curtail the multiplicity of taxes. In his words “What we need is not multiplication of tax but fewer taxes that can be properly administered to get more money for the nation.”
While speaking on the operating environment, Agbeluyi said despite facing numerous economic challenges, the institute has continued to make significant strides toward becoming the leading tax institution in Africa and beyond.
He attributed the institute’s success story to the over 28,000 members’ commitment, who have brought in the professionalism, innovations and ideas to move the institute forward.
