Why Nigeria Needs To Improve Its Ease of Tax Payments

Tuesday, December 03,
2019 / 9:37 AM / Nifemi Taiyese for Proshare WebTV / Header Image Credit:
WebTV

 

As part of Nigeria’s efforts at becoming a leading investment
destination in Africa, an aspect of the economy to give top priority is the “Ease of Tax Payments.”

 

Mr. Yomi Olugbenro, Head, Tax, West Africa at Deloitte Professional
services made the argument at the recent 2019 NSE CEO Interactive session on
the Consumer Goods sector, the event which took place in Lagos attracted senior
business executives of some corporations in the consumer goods business.

 

Olugbenro noted that despite Nigeria’s recent improvement in the World
Bank’s 2020 Ease of Doing Business ranking, which saw it move from a position
of 145 to 131, there was a clear need to scale up reforms and provide a
seamless process for the ease of paying taxes.

 

The tax expert said that a recent report released by the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that the country
was still below 7%  in its tax to GDP ratio.

 

Speaking further, he noted that Africa’s average is about 17%, while the
OECD average is at 35%.

 

He believed Nigeria could improve and be competitive like its fellow
African countries, namely; South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius and Ghana, that have
good ranking when it comes to the ease of paying taxes.

 

Nigeria slipped by two (2) places from 157 to 159 in the Global ranking
on the ease of paying taxes.

 

Deloitte’s senior tax analyst believed that Nigeria has carried out
major business and tax reforms within the year, but other African countries had
a faster pace in terms of their tax administration strategies.

 

He emphasized the need for a productive Nigerian economy, stating
that the amount of tax revenue that nations get is a reflection of their
economic prosperity,  noting that tax is a fraction of profit, and without
profits, corporations will be unable to pay taxes.

 

Giving the outlook for Nigeria’s tax regime in 2020, Olugbenro advised
businesses to brace up for the challenge ahead in terms of tax, and
the pressures from regulatory revenue authorities.

 

On the proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) increase from 5% to 7.5%, he
called on businesses to evaluate the impact and begin to make plans around
stakeholder value preservation.

 

 

Related News

1.   
Finance Bill
2019 Compels Individuals to Produce Their TIN Before Operating Bank Accounts

2.   
Custom Duty Collecting
Bank – Celebrating Another First with FSDH Merchant Bank

3.   
N275.12bn
Generated As VAT In Q3 2019 – NBS

4.   
House of
Representatives Passes Finance Bill, 2019

5.   
Government
Reviews Stamp Duty Charge

6.   
Tax Appeal
Tribunal Delivers Landmark Decision on Threshold for Exported Service

7.   
Finance Bill
2019: Tax Implications for Nigerian Entities

8.   
Senate Passes
Finance Bill, 2019

9.   
FBNQuest
Merchant Bank Obtains Approval for Customs Duties Collections In Nigeria

10. Taxation Of
On-Line Transactions – Implications On Domestic Revenue Mobilisation

11. 2019 Finance
Bill: 20 Sweeping Changes To Nigeria’s Tax Laws That May Affect You

12. TAT Judgement On
Taxation Of Dividend Paid From Tax-Exempt Income

13. The Key Changes
In The 2019 Finance Bill – Focus on Taxation


(0 votes) 0/5
Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp
Share on email
Email
[oa_social_login]
[oa_social_login]