From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), has applauded President Bola Tinubu for the suspension of the 0.5 percent cyber security levy recently imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The federal government on Tuesday confirmed the suspension of the 0.5% cybersecurity levy imposed recently by the apax bank
The CBN had, on May 6, 2024, issued a circular mandating all banks, mobile money operators, and payment service providers to commence the implementation of the new cybersecurity levy.
Speaking at the Annual Tax Conference, held in Abuja on Tuesday, CITN President, Samuel Agbeluyi, said that the federal government did well by canceling the levy.
Agbeluyi noted that while the new tax might not be totally bad, it was not the right time to implement such, given the state of the nation and the current mood of Nigerians.
CITN boss added that the country cannot be talking about cutting down on the number of taxes from 65 to units of nine, and yet be introducing a new one.
According to him, “For those who have followed the government of President Tinubu, I think he has brought one uncommon strength to governance, and that is, in the number of policies he has reversed himself.
“Each time he felt, the government had introduced policies that were not popular. He has done that even with the student loans act. That act was immediately amended.
“And I’m not surprised that he has also brought that strength to bear this time around by asking the CBN to slow down the introduction of the cyber levy. This is the way to go. It is not to say that cyber levy or any levy is entirely bad. But, we can not ask or tell the nation on one hand that we are reducing the multiplicity of taxes from about 65 to a unit of 9, and at the same time, we are introducing a new one. It will communicate wrongly to the populace. And we need to gauge the mood of the nation.
“So we are happy that the federal government has asked the CBN to slow down on that policy. This is one of the things we keep on saying and we keep on giving advice to the government as and when necessary. We do not necessarily need to go to the pages of newspapers. We have our communication channels. We are a conservative professional institute. So it is not enough to go and dance in the gallery and criticize the government.”