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From Adanna Nnamani , Abuja
The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), has said that one of the reasons for the country’s low tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio, is due to non-state actors collecting taxes.
CITN President, Samuel Agbeluyi, stated this during the unveiling of the organisation’s Liaison Office-The David Olorunleke House, in Abuja on Friday.
Agbeluyi stressed the significance of taxation for economic growth, noting that following the recently concluded CITN Annual Conference, a Communique has been drafted with which the institute intends to collaborate with government bodies to halt the activities of unauthorized tax collectors.
He added that this practice is unsustainable as it lacks accountability and leads to distortions in the nation’s tax data.
The CITN boss said: “In the next one week, our communique for the conference will be coming out, and there is a new dimension this time around, because we discussed the collection of taxes by non-state actors in the course of this conference. Now, we are not just going to send a communique to FIRs, we are going to send it to the Federal Ministry of Finance, we are even going to send it to the National Security Advisor, because the role of the non-state actor has security aspects that FIRS cannot handle.
“So, we are going to send our communique to various stakeholders for implementation. And I tell you, I can say from my point of view that it is not correct that governments do not listen. Governments at various levels, either at national or sub-national level, listen. We have experienced this in the past and we are sure that this time around they will also listen. Because it is the only way to go.
“There is no choice than to stop them. You must stop them and that is why I mentioned the role of the National Security Advisor. It is the way to go.
You can not allow non-state actors to play a vital role in collecting taxes. It is not possible. It is not sustainable.
It is not a civilised way of doing things, and there is no accountability in it anyway.
“When you see people talking about Nigerian tax to GDP is low. That is one of the elements that is causing the low tax percentage to GDP, because what the non-state actors are collecting, they are not accountable for. And they are not putting it into the common purse of the country. So, this is just distorting our data. So, it must be stopped.”
Agbeluyi also urged the government to instill trust in the public by ensuring that taxes collected are utilised for their intended purposes.
