S’ East businessmen advised to take advantage of tax tribunal

Magnus Eze, Enugu

Businessmen and women in the South East have been advised to follow due process in handling tax matters instead of looking for ways of not paying the appropriate assessment. They were informed that it was almost impossible for business concerns to evade taxes in the current dispensation. 

Chairman, Tax Appeal Tribunal, South East zone, Chukwuemeka Eze, gave the advice in a paper he delivered at the gala night marking the installation of the Chairman/CEO of Ngobros Nigeria Limited; Mr. Humphery Ngonadi, as the 3rd President of South East Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (SECCIMA) in Nnewi, Anambra state.

Eze stated that taxpayers have a duty to declare and pay taxes on their incomes honestly and promptly to appropriate government agencies; noting that this throws up the issues of truthful disclosure, proper assessment and tax compliance.

In the course of implementation of tax laws, he said that there were bound to be disputes between the tax administrator and the taxpayer, hence, the need Tax Appeal Tribunal. Explaining further, Eze urged them to take advantage of the tax appeal Tribunal located in Enugu.

“An aggrieved person, who may be a taxpayer or a tax authority, has the right to approach the Tribunal to vent out the grievance. “The Tribunal is an impartial arbiter that resolves tax disputes speedily without the usual technicalities that dog the normal court system.  Any businessman interested in boosting his business should be interested in taxation because a wrong tax assessment could wipe out profits made over the years.