Kano Traders Seek Cut In Taxes, Other Charges

 Newly elected chairman of Kantin Kwari Traders Association, Kano, Balarabe Alkasim Tatari, has called on both the federal and state governments to reduce the rate of taxes imposed on customers and members, saying, it affects price of goods sold to Nigerians and other customers outside the country.

Tatari said most of the customers who purchase goods and are traveling to other states or neighbouring countries, are being faced with one or more forms of charges or seizures before they are allowed to move with their goods while, at the state level, they are faced with the issue of multiple taxation. He described this as forces that affect their businesses and price stability.

The chairman made the call during an interview with LEADERSHIP at the weekend.

According to him, if the federal government feels such goods didn’t meet up with standard or otherwise, they should be seized right at their entry points and depots, not allowing it to come to the market and after selling to customers, they are harassed on the roads.

“Another challenge is the issue of multiple taxation and government interference. The last government in the state constructed some shops and set up a market board with a managing director in the market. The traders are major stakeholders as the government is not a business owner here. The new government appointed another MD that wants us to be paying for security and sanitation.

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“All this money for canopy, temporary permit, containers, big trucks, and expatriates, are collected by the local government. Also, the Ministries of Commerce, Local Government, as well as the market board are collecting tax and that’s too much. Sometimes we do clean up the market by ourselves, as a Union but still pay local government for sanitation,” he said.

He called on the state government to scrap the Kantin Kwari Market Board, noting that it has no use since the state has agencies such as Kano State Internal Revenue Board and local government that collect taxes.

The chairman further hinted that the new leadership of the traders’ union is working earnestly to improve the network services in the market which has been a big challenge for traders and customers while carrying out transactions especially online. He also added that it is in their plans to create a website for the market where it can be made visible to the whole world looking at how large the market is and the daily business transactions which are massive.