Tax clearance certificate as bait for pupils’ admission into schools

Mr. Benjamin Okechukwu was nearly frustrated as he could not easily register his twins in a government owned secondary school recently after they completed their primary education.

The delay in getting the two pupils register was principally because he had no tax card or evidence of tax payment. Ironically, Okechukwu who is a commercial bus driver, said that he daily pays all manners of dues and levies allegedly meant for state and local governments but the only evidence for his daily payment of levies being tickets issued to him by transport unions who are government agents.

Yet, many like Okechukwu, who maintained that they pay huge levies and taxes to government, are expected to show evidence of payment of taxes to the state government. Ironically, many operators in the informal sectors usually cannot present evidence of tax payment because government agents are yet to capture the sector appropriately.

According to him, he had to look for a neighbour who has a tax clearance, after his friend told him that he could present someone’s tax compliance evidence.

He disclosed that after he was able to get someone to volunteer his tax clearance to him, he was still made to part with some money as tips to the registration officers to accept the tax clearance.

For him, it was still a better option compared to paying N17,000 for his two kids, because he was not financially buoyant due to his vehicle that had broken down.

Also, Mrs. Kudirat Tajudeen, a widow, had to cough out N8500 to get his daughter enrolled in one of the public secondary schools in Amuwo-Odofin Local Council. This was because she could not present an evidence of tax payment.

According to her, she works in a private school where she earns N21,000. She added that the school before now was deducting and remitting her tax, Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), but the school stopped the deduction and remission due to the Federal Government’s policy that employees who earn less than the national minimum wage, currently at N30,000, should no longer be liable to monthly deduction and payment of PAYE.

According to her, even when the school was remitting her tax, it was usually a slip from the state tax regulatory body as evidence of payment, showing all the staff in the school that paid and what they paid.

Tajudeen further said that she has not been keeping a copy of the slip. So, when she wanted to enroll her daughter into a secondary school, she has no evidence of tax payments made in the past.

And since early 2022, she said she has not been paying because of Federal Government’s policy of exception for person earning less than N30,000.

Alawiye-King

“When I told the school authorities and tax officers at the point of registration and enrolment that I have no evidence of tax payment because I am exempted, I was not listened to. I have to cough out N8500 to get the child registered.”

Commenting on the state government requesting tax clearance for admission into public schools, a resident, Blessing Oladunjoye, said that she was aware that if a parent wants to enroll his or her child in a government owned school in Lagos State, it is required that the parent of the child presents a tax clearance certificate.

“And I have heard of an instance where a woman, a widow, had to start begging people around for their tax clearance certificate so that she could take it to her child’s school for the enrolment. She did this, which put her through a lot of stress before she could get someone to volunteer to give her the tax clearance certificate.

“Genuinely, this woman was not working and there was no way she ought to be paying tax or have a tax clearance certificate. Yet, government wants it to be a justification for people to be able to access education in Lagos. I do not think this is good enough, but measures can be put in place to ensure that parents even without the tax clearance certificate, their children are enrolled in schools.

“For instance, parents who are not working, they are not paying tax because they are exempted or informal workers, but this is not saying that people should not pay their taxes.”

She maintained that parents who did not pay their tax, their children should not be denied access to services because of the parents’ failure to comply with payment of tax.

“Education is a right that children should enjoy without condition. So, whether or not the parents are able to pay their tax, it should not be a determinant for a child to have access to education,” Oladunjoye stated.

Similarly, another resident, Mr. Edidi Ayodeji, an engineer, speaking on the matter, said that the truth of the matter is that it is the responsibility of all citizens within the taxable age to pay his/her appropriate tax.

“However, it is also not right to punish a child because of the inadequacies of the parents, especially not with the rate of out-of-school children within our own environment.

“In as much as the two are fundamental to the existence of the community, government must collect taxes for the development of the citizenry and at the same time the children by the constitution is entitled to a free basic education.

“In summary, tax clearance certificate should not be used as a means of admitting children into schools. However, all parents of children in government owned schools should be made to pay appropriate tax since it is one of the basic responsibilities of the citizens in any country to the government.”

On his part, a sociologist, Mr. Samuel Ajayi, said that the state government has the duty to demand and collect tax from eligible adult, but at the same time, it has the obligation to provide free, quality and equitable education to all children, as it is a fundamental right of all children, as enshrined in the Universal Basic Education Act 2004 and the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (Article 28 (1) (a)).

He further said that “As fundamental as tax is to service delivery, provision of education to a child cannot be traded for tax collection under any guise. It will amount to self-contradiction if a state government is using the fundamental rights of a child as baits for demanding and collection of tax, that is, as a collateral for providing education to any child. Not only is it morally wrong, but it also put an innocent child at a big risk.

“A child should not be punished by the famous social contract between the state and the citizens in relation to tax. A child is not a party in that agreement. While the state government needs resources to fulfill its obligations, it must do so without violating the right of a child to education in this case,” Ajayi stated.

He further said that Lagos State government should not be fulfilling the law, that is providing free education with one hand and violating the same law, that is withdrawing the education with the other hand.

“This negates the Lagos State education slogan of “leaves no child behind”. And you know this has a huge negative implication on the already high number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

“The Lagos State should explore other means of tax collection in line with the law guiding it. Many of the children attending public schools are from very poor homes, whose annual income is below the eligibility criteria for paying tax.

“Apart from exposing this class of families to more hardship, it also has the tendency for exploitation and corruption which many poor parents are already experiencing,” Ajayi said.

But when the Executive Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB), Wahab Olawale Alawiye-King, was contacted on parents’ experiences, he insisted that presentation of tax clearance certificate is not a requirement to admitting students in schools in Lagos.

He maintained that its officers at the registration points are aware of the policy when asked if the message has been taken down to schools for the registration officers to be aware. He added that any parent who is being asked to present tax clearance certificate should contact the state SUBEB to complain.