The federal government has promised not to introduce any new taxes nor increase the existing taxes even as some of its officials had insisted that the taxes, especially Value Added Tax, company tax are the top low. Some others had hinted that the government would introduce property and luxury tax to mobilise more revenue for fiscal expenses.
“By God’s grace, we will not introduce additional taxes nor increase any form of taxes. We are only determined to increase the pie,” chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji remarked yesterday when he hosted the management team of Guinness Nigeria on a courtesy visit to him on Wednesday.
Adedeji said President Bola Tinubu has given a directive that all taxes must not be above a single digit figure aimed at leading the country out of the current economic challenges. “The president gave a directive that he wants a single digit tax in the country, meaning that the maximum number of taxes we will have after the work of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms will be nine taxes.
“For us at FIRS, we have responded to that directive. We want to grow the pie such that even if we are taking the same percentage of the bigger pie, the result will be huge.
He also disclosed that in a few days from now, the recently introduced consumer credit scheme will be launched to set the right fundamentals most especially for the kind of products you sell.
Adedeji said in an economy the size of Nigeria’s, it will be extremely difficult not to have a consumer credit scheme, adding that people need to eat before they drink. “But when they have credit to buy things, this gives them more money that they can use to come to drink and relax after work.
“Moreover, the president has also directed the commencement of a single window platform for your logistics at the ports. So, instead of having to pay in many places, you can now do that through the platform, most especially for companies like yours.
“You know your products before they come into the country, so you pay before they arrive as the issue of port congestion that delays the time you get your raw materials has been taken care of now.
Chief executive officer of Guinness, Adebayo Alli who led the company on the visit to Abuja earlier pledged that the company would continue to do business in the country, notwithstanding macro-economic challenges being faced.
“We have come to know FIRS more and also tell you a little bit about who we are as a large taxpayer so you can understand our world, the value we add to Nigeria, despite the macroeconomic situation facing us,” he said.
He assured the FIRS chairman that Guinness would continue to invest in the country, just as he sought assurances from the tax authority in terms of the role it would play “in getting the economy back on the right path from the recovery point of view.”
According to a statement by special adviser on media to the FIRS chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, the plan warranted the president’s directive that a conducive environment be created for businesses to flourish and grow the economy.
“We used to have functional types of taxes, but we have identified that the only customers we have are the taxpayers. We have improved the way we relate with our customers by rearranging our operations based on our customers, using their turnover as the basis to categorise them into large, medium and small.
“We did this to actually develop expertise in what we do. Secondly, to provide you with a one-stop shop for your activities. If you are in a large tax group, you only need to go to one office to pay all forms of taxes, including audit and other activities. You don’t need to move from one office to another again.
“We are here to serve you. You taxpayers are not armed robbers or criminals that we will be chasing about. FIRS is also not a law enforcement organisation. We are partners in progress.
The FIRS chairman told the visitors that they are one of the trees in the vineyard of the tax watchdog, adding that the only thing FIRS can do is to ensure Guinness is “well watered and pruned so you can bear good fruits for us to have plenty of harvest.”
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