From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
As the removal of petroleum subsidy and the increase in electricity tariffs bite harder on Nigerians, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), at the weekend, advised the Federal Government to slow down on the introduction of policies.
Speaking on the sideline of third Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) and CITN retreat in Abuja, the president of CITN, Samuel Agbeluyi reasoned that the impact of the removal of subsidy and the current petroleum prices are enormous on the citizens.
So, in order not to make the shock to be too drastic the government needs to slow down on the introduction of other policies.
“For example, the impact of the removal of subsidy and the current petroleum prices are enormous on the citizens. In order not to make the shock to be too drastic we may need to slow down in the introduction of other policies.
” If we add the sudden increase in electricity tariffs to what is on ground now it will cause some kind of dislocation to the system that may be difficult to handle” he said.
Agbeluyi, however, praised the president for his daunting policies while applauding the initiatives of the president.
“He started very well and he needs the support of everybody and we have applauded the initiatives of government. But at this point, can we manage what we have introduced and slowly introduce other policies so that we will not dislocate the system?” he asked.
While criticizing the N8,000 palliative to the poor Nigerians, CITN argued that to ensure a sound cashless economy, the money should pass through the banking system for accountability.
“CITN has been talking about this palliative not only about this government. One thing is that the government needs to co-ordinate its policies and activities. If you want to have a cashless economy, the essence is to bring people into a net whereby you can have information about them. We criticised the immediate past government for distributing cash to people instead of distributing money to them through the banking system. If you do that through the banking system, you have their data. That means, if you are talking of 12 million, you have the data of 12 million people. That is number one. Number two, we are looking at everybody benefiting and what will benefit us most will not be 12 million people. It will be in form of transportation because, if we improve our transportation, the value chain system distribution, movement and commerce will have more positive impact on the system and the populace than concentrating on 12 million people” he explained.
“We just heard from FIRS yesterday that it exceeded the previous record. It recorded in the last five months N5.5 trillion. Beyond that, for about one and half years now, NNPC has stopped bringing money into Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) account because of the heamorrahge of subsidy.
Speaking on the multiple tax system in Nigeria, the president noted that some states pay as high as 58 different taxes and this has brought confusion into the tax system.
“Tax revenue has come to the rescue of the country. All we can do is to forge ahead in this direction because we keep on saying that taxation is the price to pay to live in a civilised environment. So, we all need to contribute and pay our taxes.
“The idea behind the government setting up the committee is not to increase tax or do something against the tax payer but it’s to harmonise the different taxes paid by Nigerians. We have some states in this country that pay as high as 58 different taxes. There’s no sane environment where you do that and you will move forward. If anything you will collect less because you have brought confusion into the system.
“So, what we will recommend is we harmonise. Can we have maximum five as the case may be? It will be easier. It brings about a lot of accountability” he stated.
Meanwhile, he commended the government for starting on a very good note.
“I mean, the removal of oil subsidy. The removal of that wastage is a major step this government has taken. Within a few months we have started seeing the benefits accruable to the federal government, states and local governments. That’s one major thing we need to commend them for. I also need to commend the president for the initiative to set up a committee to reform the tax system in the country. That is also commendable. We will also like to advise the government to be slow and not drastic to some of the steps to be taken” he noted.