FG set to reduce tax for SMEs

Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has stated that his goal is to reduce the number of taxes collected in Nigeria to less than 10.

On Tuesday, he made the remarks during the 53rd annual conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in Abuja.

Oyedele stated that over 62 taxes were formally collected at various levels of government in the country, putting a strain on Nigerian business owners.

He condemned the various informal levies levied across the country.

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Oyedele also stated that he intended to reduce the number of tax collection organizations to one for each tier of government.

“At the federal level,” he explained. The list is close to 16 officially at the state level, 25 Local Government 21, but this is only the beginning. The narrative is unfinished. Until you include the over 108 informal taxes collected all over the place, often by non-state actors who have been enabled by government, either passively or actively.

“In fact, in Nigeria, we have a bicycle tax and wheelbarrow tasks.” I believe the definition of wickedness is to discover a man laboring to make ends meet, pulling their wheel in the sun, and say, “You have not paid your tax.”

“What I want and hope to accomplish is to reduce the number of taxes to less than 10, yes, a single digit, and also to reduce revenue collection agencies to one for each tier of government.” The federal government now has a single revenue collection agency, as do state and local governments. So they may focus on their primary mission of making residents’ lives simpler.”