FG, Govs To Halt “Nuisance Taxes” Across The Country—Tax Reforms Chief Oyedele

The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele said the federal government is currently meeting with state governors to suspend what he described as “nuisance taxes” nationwide.

Oyedele disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television on Monday.

The former PWC chief stressed that while waiting for the legal instrument that part of the reforms requires before implementation, some consultations were ongoing to ensure smooth execution.

Recalls that, in August last year, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the panel, saying it reflects his commitment to addressing challenges and bringing about transformative reforms in fiscal policy and taxation.

The committee’s primary objective is to enhance revenue collection efficiency, ensure transparent reporting, and promote the effective utilisation of tax and other revenues to boost citizens’ tax morale, foster a healthy tax culture, and drive voluntary compliance.

But Oyedele argued that banning nuisance taxes, which do not even go to government coffers, will ensure that the government makes more money while relieving the taxpayer of the burden of paying multiple taxes.

He said, “We are not waiting for the instrument to be out. Some of it would be, for example, asking states and local governments to suspend nuisance taxes that just create problems with very little revenue to show for it.

“We are already meeting with the governors. In some cases, we will set off small committees to discuss with their team. So, we’re already working on that. Once the thing is signed, there’s no excuse, just implement it like the next day,” he added.

He emphasised that when the governors agreed, then more than 90 percent of the problem would have been solved, with the local governments following closely.

He said, “So, we’re discussing with the governors first and demonstrating to them why this is good for the local government, good for them and good for us as a people. Once the governors agree, then, we’re not going to ignore the local governments.

 “We are now taking a top-down approach, but we will engage with everyone, including during the conference of speakers, and the forums of finance commissioners. We’re engaging with everyone,” he added.

The chairman stated that he believes that most of the levies that are charged by the collectors do not get to the government, stressing that the current chaos of multiple taxation nationwide will be eliminated when implantation starts.

Oyedele, while making reference to the Bureau of Statistics, he stated that for 2022, all the local governments in Nigeria that sent reports to them, didn’t even collect N50 billion naira in a whole year, even though a lot is taken by non-state actors.

According to him, if properly streamlined, just the collection of stickers on vehicles could attract as much as N50 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for just one of the big local governments in the country.

“I think only one local government should collect N50 billion. The amount of wastage is mind-boggling.