By
Keem Abdul
Only two things, as the old saying goes, are certain in this life: death… and taxes.
And yet no public policy issue, in virtually every jurisdiction on this planet, is as vexed as taxes – whether to raise or lower them, what and whom to tax or not to tax, when and where to offer tax-based incentives such as waivers, exemptions and holidays, and so forth. In jurisdictions where the tax net is at its most comprehensive, and loopholes (where they exist) are few and far between, the issue is even more fraught. In these jurisdictions, taxes have decided elections, caused wholesale revisions of relevant laws, and even precipitated revolutions.
Since his days as Lagos State Governor, President Bola Tinubu had always tended towards a fiscal template driven by taxation as a driver of economic productivity, as opposed to one driven by rent-seeking and royalties (in Nigeria’s case, from the sale of crude oil, its economic mainstay, and the distribution of the proceeds). It was no surprise then that, upon his ascension to the Presidency, his administration has been intentional in its quest to overhaul, or at least the country’s tax profile. The appointment of Taiwo Oyedele, formerly a taxation expert with the consulting firm of PriceWaterCooprs (PwC) – and a frequent critic of the tax policies of successive administrations at both national and subnational levels – as chairman of the Presidential Fiscal and Tax Reform Committee, was an early indication of the President’s intentions in this regard.
It is no news that the latest policy move of the administration in respect of tax administration, namely, the proposed Tax Reform Bill, and the federal government’s efforts to guide it through the National Assembly, have generated strong reactions from certain quarters. Though it was touted by the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, as “a significant move to overhaul the country’s tax system …” whose aim is to “simplify the tax landscape, reduce the burden on small businesses, and streamline tax collection,” not everyone is buying it.
Read more: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2024/12/04/mixed-reactions-the-debate-over-tinubu-tax-reform-bill/
