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Saraki inaugurates technical committee on tax reforms

By Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja
29 March 2018   |   3:58 am
Senate President Bukola Saraki has canvassed the urgent review of the nation’s tax laws to make for a more efficient and productive tax system in the country. Saraki, who gave the charge while inaugurating the Technical Committee on Reforming Nigeria’s Tax System at the National Assembly in Abuja yesterday, said the Federal Government’s target should…

Senate President Bukola Saraki PHOTO: TWITTER/ NIGERIAN SENATE

Senate President Bukola Saraki has canvassed the urgent review of the nation’s tax laws to make for a more efficient and productive tax system in the country.

Saraki, who gave the charge while inaugurating the Technical Committee on Reforming Nigeria’s Tax System at the National Assembly in Abuja yesterday, said the Federal Government’s target should not only be that of increased revenue, but evolving a tax system that is productive and efficient.

He lamented that there still exists a lot of duplication in the tax regime and called on the committee to harmonise the various tax instruments to make for greater ease of doing business in the country. 

“For a country like ours that wants to grow, we must adopt a more efficient and productive tax system. 

“It is not just to increase revenue alone, I think it is also to address how efficient and the level of harmonisation of taxes across board, particularly as we operate a three-tier system of government.

“One of the difficulties or frustration you find from business people is where they have to pay similar taxes at the local, state and federal levels. 

“There is a lot of duplication even from state to state. You see people moving goods from Sokoto State to Lagos and by the time they do that, they are made to pay similar taxes along the way at various inter-state and local council checkpoints. 

“This at the long run makes business unproductive. I hope that at the end of the day, you should have an approach that will bring in a system that is efficient, a system that reduces all these barricades and the different challenges on the ease of doing business,” he said. 

Besides, he called for the expansion of the technical committee to include major players in the private sector “as it is better to engage and get their input rather than giving them directives during the implementation of the expected reforms.”

“It should also be an approach that is transparent, consistent and stable. People must be very clear on what they should pay,” he added.

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