Edo government, tax consultant disagree over presumptive tax collection

Edo State government and its major tax consultant previously engaged to collect revenue on behalf of the state government from the informal sector yesterday disagreed on the reviewed modalities for the collection of presumptive tax in line with the country’s tax laws.

The consultant, Akugbe Ventures also disagreed with the government’s decentralisation of the collection process splitting it into the three senatorial zones with a suspected intention of the government engaging other consultants to man the two districts outside Edo South rather than Akugbe Ventures being the only collector for the entire state.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Akugbe Venture, Tony Kabaka expressed dismay over the state government’s decision to bring the new process where the payers would only be issued government tax payment receipt and also for the to be captured in the Tax Identification Number (TIN) without putting into consideration the peculiar challenges of the informal sector made up of mostly commercial vehicle drivers Okada riders, bus conductors, market women, petty traders and others.

Kabaka also said that his Venture had over 5, 000 employees across the state that had been collecting the taxes for the state without problems adding that limiting their area of operation to Edo South without the other two senatorial districts would lead to double taxation.

“People have been crying about double taxation and the same double taxation has woken up again. By splitting revenue collection when tax is one there will still be double taxation because when you come from one local government to another, the people there will still insist you pay your tax since it is a different consultant. So we are rejecting the deal.”

However, chairman of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), Oseni Elamah who conveyed the message of the government at a stakeholders meeting promised to call another stakeholders meeting for more deliberations.

He said that the names of the consultants who would handle revenue in Edo North and Central senatorial districts would be announced by government adding that government reached this decision so as to ensure equity and fairness to all parties involved the revenue collection, asserting that the arrangement had been made in a manner that the issue of double taxation would not occur.

According to him, “government is issuing to every tax payer an income tax receipt, this will be given to the consultant in carrying out its duties. It is therefore easier for us to identify who was in Edo South that was issued a TIN card that was issued receipt. It is more transparent than what happens when you just tear ticket. We try as much as possible to see how best we can reduce the issue of multiple taxation of one person moving from one location to the other.

“Even if it is consultants, if you don’t have proper identification if you move from one location to the other people will still ask you evidence of tax payment that is why TIN was introduced. We have also worked out the modalities on how we do it in a manner that is transparent and that will ensure fairness and equity in the operation of revenue collection,” he stated.