Private school owners in Edo State yesterday staged a peaceful protest in Benin over what they described as an “alarming increase” in personal income taxes imposed by the state government.
The school owners under the umbrella of the Coalition of Associations of Private Schools (CAPS), carrying various placards and banners, converged at the premises of the Ministry of Education to register their grievances.
The coalition includes Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Association of Formidable Education Development (AFED), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and Association of Model Islamic Model Schools.
The protesters called on the state government to reverse what they termed an arbitrary increase in tax rates on school proprietors.
Chairman of the coalition, Dr Ohis-Olakhe Emmanuel, who led the protest, described the tax hike as punitive and economically damaging to the education sector.
According to him, the group has exhausted all channels of dialogue with no result, prompting the need for the protest.
“Private schools are not only complementing government efforts in the education sector, but we are also significant employers of labour.
“With this increase, over 300,000 teachers risk losing their jobs, not to mention the countless vendors and service providers who depend on schools for survival,” he said.
He lamented that the new policy of using N30,000 to N35,000 per student to compute tax, whereas they were schools charging below the amount, was harsh.
He said tax ought to be calculated on profit and not the entire income, without minding other expenses incurred.
In the same vein, the secretary of the coalition, Dr Austin Igbasan, argued that the increase in taxes would lead to a ripple effect.
He said the effects included school closures, job losses and a surge in the number of out-of-school children, particularly among low-income families who would not be able to afford higher tuition fees.
On his part, the secretary of AFED, Mr Oladele Ogundele, called for a uniformed tax system for school owners, saying the multiple layers of taxation by various government agencies was disturbing.
The multiple layers, he said, included personal income tax, PAYE for staff, renewal fees, environmental and health certificates, signage fees, tenement rates and other levies.
“Education is a social service that should be supported, not taxed into extinction.
“The Nigerian Constitution and the Universal Basic Education Act clearly emphasise free and compulsory education, which this heavy taxation contradicts,” he said.
Addressing the protesters after a short meeting with the leadership of the coalition, the state’s commissioner of Education, Mr Paddy Iyamu, said the government would look into the demands of the school owners.
He noted that as a government, which was ready to provide an enabling environment for businesses in the state, a meeting would be convened with the state internal revenue service to address the grey areas.
Iyamu said tax was necessary for the government to deliver on its promises, assuring, however, that the schools would not be overburdened with tax at the end of the engagement.
The commissioner called on schools falling short of required standards to take corrective action promptly, warning that the government would soon begin enforcing stricter measures.
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