The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has said that Nigerians are paying over 200 unofficial taxes.
He said this at BusinessDay’s Africa Trade Summit and Investment Summit themed “Reimagining Economic Growth in Africa” on Thursday.
The tax reform committee chairman noted that his committee plans to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio from 10% to 18% in the next two to three years without introducing new taxes.
He said:
- “We are harmonizing the number of taxes officially 60, unofficially over 200 across all levels of government combined.”
Oyedele also said the committee plans to modernize and mend some laws to be in line with modern trends and for a more efficient tax system.
FG plans to make Nigeria a preferred country
Oyedele also said that the government is working towards making Nigeria the most preferred country in Africa for retirement, creative economy, technology research and development.
He said:
- “We want to be the preferred location in Africa and a competitive one globally. We want companies to start putting their headquarters here so that the C-suite will be here spending their money and booming our economy.
- “And also, the preferred land for technology, research and development, energy transition, retirement, business outsourcing, and creative economy.”
He also said that the committee is working towards efficient fiscal governance, revenue transformation, and facilitating inclusive economic growth and competitiveness.
He added that the committee plans to build a spending framework, stressing the need for the country to reprioritize.
- “If we have 130 million people in poverty that do not have access to education, health, and clean water then we shouldn’t build international worship centres when we have no schools, or build airports in states where we have no roads from the farms to the market,” he said.
More Insights
- Small businesses across Nigeria have struggled with multiple taxation either from different agencies of the federal government or similar kinds of taxes from different levels of government (federal, state, and local government).
- Oyedele recently said that the committee is making recommendations to the state and local governments across the country to suspend “nuisance taxes” that don’t add value to the state’s coffers.
- He also recently said that his committee has drafted a new tax regulation, which will amend existing laws.