*Dare: Tax Reforms, Tinubu determined to promote prosperity by protecting the vulnerable*
Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation, Chief Sunday Dare have explained that President Bola Tinubu is determined to promote prosperity by protecting the vulnerable, while eliminating unnecessary financial strain on citizens and ensuring a more efficient revenue collection process.
Dare, in an opinion piece, titled “Tinubu’s People-Centric Tax Reforms and Ndume’s Threat“asserted that President Tinubu meant well for Nigerians as he encouraged people to study the bills and to mobilise support for them to be passed by the National Assembly.
He wrote that “The President’s vision and clear mandate is evident in what the Fiscal policy and tax reforms Committee delivered as recommendations to the government, and became a part of the Economic Stabilisation Bills (ESB) approved by the Federal Executive Council in September, as part of the Accelerated Stability and Advancement Plan (ASAP) of the government.
According to him, “It was in furtherance to a realisation of these objectives that President Bola Tinubu sent a letter to the two chambers of the National Assembly, requesting for the approval of four tax reform bills, which are: “The Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill”, “The Nigeria Tax Bill”, “The Nigeria Tax Administration Bill,” and “The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.”
He said “These Bills seek to provide a consolidated fiscal framework for taxation in Nigeria, a clear and concise legal framework for the fair, consistent and efficient administration of all the tax laws to facilitate ease of tax compliance, reduce tax disputes and optimize revenue, among others.
Dare urged people to familarise themselves with “What is driving the reforms and the proposals that have been laid out, which include consolidating the different ‘nuisance taxes’ taxes and levies, which some have put at 62 official and 200 unofficial taxes into a streamlined system of 8 taxes to eliminate unnecessary financial strain on citizens while ensuring a more efficient revenue collection process.
“The committee is also pushing for a constitutional amendment to limit the total number of taxes on individuals and businesses to a single-digit. The objective, it says, to provide greater financial stability and predictability for taxpayers, fostering a more conducive business environment. Apart from that are the amendments to the withholding tax regulation, with businesses earning below 50 million Naira exempted from this tax, to provide relief for small companies and reduce the tax burden on emerging enterprises to engender growth of SMES, which play a central role in providing employment and the development of the economy,” he noted.