Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has identified multiple taxation has been described as the bane of the economic development of the country.
It also disclosed that multiple taxation does not lead to increment in government revenue, but rather makes otherwise profitable businesses to become unprofitable.
NCC Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management), Mr Adeleke Adewolu, said these at the Regional Stakeholders Workshop on Multiple Taxation and Regulations, recently held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He spoke on the topic, “Multiple Taxation: An Impediment to Economic Development”, noting that the even World Bank identified multiple taxation as ‘nuisance taxes’.
Adewolu acknowledged that Nigeria is widely known, not only as Africa’s most populous country, but also as the largest economy on the continent.
He added that it is thus expected that strong economic growth in Nigeria would generate substantial prospects for growth and spillovers for the West African region.
Adewolu said the prospect of accelerated economic growth notwithstanding, the presence of multiplicity of tax has continued to prove to be a bane of economic development in the country.
He was quick to add, however, that taxation is, in itself, a veritable tool for national economic growth and development.
Adewolu asked: “How can a fiscal tool for economic development like taxation become inimical to economic development?; “What then is multiple taxation?”
He said: “According to the National Tax Policy 2017, multiple taxation is the imposition of the same or similar taxes on the same income base, transaction or person by one or more levels of government, in one or more jurisdictions.
“While a level of multiplicity is expected in federal system of governance, the levying of a particular tax on the same person/entity, in respect of the same liability by more than one state or local government council should be avoided.
“The paradox of multiple taxation is that it does not lead to an increment in government revenue, rather the crippling effect of these taxes, is that it makes otherwise profitable businesses, unprofitable.
“It negatively impacts the ease of doing business, shrinks the tax base, incentivizes tax evasion and complicate tax compliance.
“According to the World Bank, taxing a specific tax base will lead to increasing revenues up to a specific point.
“After this, the overall tax revenue will decline because companies go out of business, or evasion increases significantly.
“In addition to these challenges, the economic burden of multiple taxation is further exacerbated by the administrative burden of complying with these taxes.
“It further makes Nigeria an undesirable ground for breeding healthy business and competitive practices.
“The effect of this is that business enterprises in Nigeria struggle to compete with their counterparts abroad.
“These incidents weakens our economic foundations, devalues the symbol of economic strength, which is our currency, the Naira, and contracts our gross domestic product,” he said.
He however said it was imperative to correct some misconception about taxation, “particularly the misguided notion of taxation as a penal tool on thriving business enterprise.
Adewolu explained: “Taxation is the backbone for public finance. It provides guaranteed and sustainable sources of funding for social programs and public investments.
“It also serves as a tool curated by the government to effectively and efficiently distribute our commonwealth.
“It is thus evident that taxation is critical for making growth sustainable and equitable. Thus, taxation by design is an instrument for economic development.
“It is important to acknowledge and support the initiative of all tiers of government in using taxation as an instrument for socio-economic development.
“However, supporting the tax initiatives by the various tiers of government includes indicating where a category of taxes have become cancerous to economic development.
“These type of taxes typically manifest themselves in the form of multiple taxation and by design, they reverse growth, stifle innovation and discourage investment.
“In parabolic terms, they are the scarecrows mounted by government to disincentivize development.”
Adewolu noted that the National Tax Policy 2017 emphasizes the need to eradicate multiple taxation at all tiers of government.
“Specifically, the Policy states that taxes similar to those being collected by a level of government should not be introduced by the same or another level of government.
“The federal, state and local governments shall ensure collaboration in harmonising and eliminating multiple taxation,” he added.
He said President Bola Tinubu demonstrated his commitment to addressing the vexed issue of multiple taxation when he recently signed a number of Executive Orders to curb arbitrary taxes in the country.
He added that the inauguration of the Committee on Fiscal Policy, Tax Reforms by the president was geared towards harmonising taxes.
He said the president thus provided an avenue to further engage various stakeholders in order to identify their pain points and critical concerns bothering tax and fiscal policies.
“This would also facilitate a conducive environment for conducive for local and foreign investment into the country,” he added.
The NCC Executive Commissioner said the workshop was an avenue to rethink the approach towards taxation by adhering to its founding principles.
He said overarching principles of taxation to include neutrality, efficiency, certainty and simplicity, effectiveness and fairness and flexibility.
He added that the policy direction of the Federal Government is that all tiers of government are expected to align, as closely as possible, to the fundamental principles of taxation.
Adewolu tasked participants at the workshop to sufficiently clarify common mischief on taxation and ensure a renewed zeal towards eradicating multiple taxation.
He was also optimistic that there would be more devotion to creating business friendly environment for the economy thrive, after the deliberations at the workshop.
“Ultimately, this workshop is an invitation to both the public and private sector to view taxation as a win-win solution in steering the course of our national economy,” Adewolu added.
