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- As ASUU kicks against tax waivers
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), on Tuesday ,summoned commercial banks to appear before it over alleged under remittance of Education Tax to TetFund.
The chairman of the Committee, Mariam Onouha, issued the summon, at an investigative hearing organized by the committee on Education Tax remittance between 2011 to 2022.
Onouha noted that records at the disposal of the panel indicated alleged discrepancies in the Education Tax remittance by banks to the Federal Island Revenue Service ( FIRS).
According to her, “The bone of contention have always been that the banks seem to be relying on a protected exempted order which clearly mentions company income tax exemption order of 2012. We have asked the banks to produce education tax exemption order and they have failed to present it
“We have equally presented with them that you cannot liken one exemption to another because in law you don’t summarily assume. Because what is not mentioned is deem excluded. Education tax was not mentioned in whatever you have shown.”
However, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU), Emmanuel Osodeke, while speaking at the public hearing, wondered why the President would approve tax waivers for banks.
According to him, there should be a way to stop the idea of tax waivers.
“Why should the president approve a waiver for banks not to pay some taxes? And this is the sector of the industry that makes so much profit on a yearly basis. This is one of the industry were are properly paid and you are preventing them.
“So, I also believe that the legislators can come in this area that there is a need to stop this so called waiver. We should look for a way to stop this idea of waiver.”
