3 hours ago
2
Chairman, Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele has said Nigeria still uses the stamp duty law of 1939.
He stated this at a session with the Senate to discuss the tax reform bills.
He said, “Many of the laws we have today, we inherited from our colonial masters. For example, the Stamp Duty Law is a law of 1939. In 1939, the world had not envisaged that there would be the Internet. Trying to apply a law of 1939 in 2024 does not show that we are a people that are ready for the next generation.”
Oyedele explained that there is a need to write new tax laws as the old ones no longer apply in 2024.
“Because of this, we decided that instead of amending our old laws that we inherited from our colonial masters, why don’t we write new ones for ourselves. This has been done in many countries across the world,” Oyedele stated.
He also said that the committee is trying to harmonise many taxes into fewer high-revenue-yielding ones.
“This is what led to us trying to harmonise so many taxes we have in Nigeria into a few high-revenue broad-based taxes and eliminate those taxes that impose a burden on our poorest people and small businesses so they can have the opportunity to thrive.
“It is when our people are prosperous, that they will have the ability to pay taxes. Our findings reveal that the fiscal system we have today inhibits growth in my private sector experience before my current role, I was involved for over a decade in looking at tax systems in more than 180 countries worldwide and I can tell with all forms of responsibility, Nigeria’s tax system is one of the most backward in the world.
“This cannot help us with our vision of a great country, which is what we desire and truly deserve. We also found out that the Government can do much better in terms of the priority and quality of spending as well as how we borrow in addition to issues around harmonisation of taxes,” he said.
It would be recalled that Oyedele is leading the charge for the controversial proposed Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Bill as President Tinubu had in October sent the tax reform bill, which he said aligns with ongoing financial reforms of the Federal Government to the National Assembly.
Just after the bill was sent to the National Assembly, it started generating controversies with governors of the 19 Northern states rejecting the bill, especially the proposed amendment to the distribution of Value Added Tax (VAT) to a derivation-based model.
The National Economic Council (NEC) also expressed reservations over the Tax Reform Bill forwarded by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly.
NEC called for the withdrawal of the bill.
However, the President explained that the bill is not targeted at the 19 northern states, the presidency said.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Drama in Senate as FG officials defend Tinubu’s tax reform bills
