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Nigeria can’t attain economic growth without citizens paying taxes as and when due, the Federal Government has submitted.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gave the submission, yesterday while declaring open the 24th tax conference of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) in Abuja.

Represented by Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, Osinbajo said the present administration had realised that without prompt payment of their taxes, it would be difficult for the government to meet its obligations.

His words: “Previous administrations had depended almost wholly on oil for revenue, but when we came in, based on the lessons we learnt from the recent market trends that crude oil, like other commodities, is not a sustainable source of government revenue, we have shifted attention to tax.

“What we have learnt is that if we must make progress as a nation, all of us must pay our taxes for the sake of national development to foster harmony and economic growth.”

The Vice President said every Nigerian must be prepared not just to pay their taxes, but also to ensure that others do the same.

He observed that the theme of the conference, “Global Disruption, Taxation and Digitalisation: Implications For Socio-economic Development,” captures the prevailing realities within the national and global spaces.

Osinbajo continued: “Nigeria’s economy is fast digitalising. This means that the way and manner of doing business have changed. Indeed the radical change is brought about by digitalisation, which has made useless the traditional approach to tax administration.

“The digitalisation of tax administration is unavoidable, that is why our government has continued to heavily invest in the automation of tax administrative processes and digital infrastructure.

“It is in the best interest of the country that the government at all levels has enough revenue. The lingering issue of insecurity, crimes and criminality and inadequate social infrastructure can only be addressed if there is adequate revenue in the hand of government.”

He commended the institute for being a critical member of the taxation ecosystem in Nigeria.

“Taxation is a key driver of social harmony, political stability, economic development and growth.

“Your Institute is a pillar for socio-economic development and the emancipation of the down-trodden. It is my belief that your members will continue to discharge their responsibilities of ensuring that the interest of the larger society is not trodden upon, this you must do with patriotic zeal.

“I, therefore, urge you to support government and FIRS in the drive towards full digitalisation of the tax administrative processes. That is why in 2021, the President directed all stakeholders, including MDAs, to support the tax automation drive of the FIRS.

“Therefore I call on the CITN and every Nigerian to comply with tax rules and encourage others to comply and report those not complying so that we can build the Nigeria of our dreams. We must, therefore, take our destiny in our hands,” he appealed.

Earlier in his welcome address, CITN President, Adesina Adedayo, pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 disrupted the global economy yet to be fully addressed by world governments.

Chairman of Tax Conference Committee, Mrs. Ruth Arokoyo, said the conference was packaged to address some salient issues on the application of technology to optimime tax revenue.

Also in an interview with The Guardian, the immediate president of CITN, Dame Gladys Olajumoke, stated: “We need to start interrogating spending by government. We need to make them know that people will voluntarily pay tax if they see what the tax is being used for.”

Stakeholders in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector have urged the government at all levels to desist from imposing unnecessary taxes on small businesses considering the effect of such on the growth of the sector and job creation.

They called for harmonisation of taxes levied on MSMEs operators by Local, State and Federal governments to reduce their financial burden for the benefit of the nation.

As of today, they claimed that the sector still employs over 50 percent of the country’s labour force, warning that failure to address concerns about double taxation will further create uncontrollable unemployment in the country.

Speaking to The Guardian on the issues of double taxation being suffered by the MSMEs in Nigeria, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Paul Bou Nigeria Ltd, Eze Uzuegbu said that there is an urgent need for the government to address the problem without further delay.

Uzuegbu said: “Today, all of us are aware that the problems of insecurity, high cost of production, high cost of transportation among others, have greatly affected the growth of MSMEs, making things worse, just as governments’ imposition of different taxes compound production costs.

“Many of the MSMEs are folding up on a daily basis. This should not be so because several jobs have gone into extinction, making the youths to be vulnerably idle; the effects of this could be seen in the areas of increasing crime rate.”

He called on the government to create a business cluster environment based on thematic areas to help reduce cost and boost quality products for consumption and for exports.

He also advocated tax waivers and incentives to SMEs to enable them to grow their companies to standards.

Speaking at the recent SME Conference and Exhibition Organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), the President of the Chamber, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar emphasised the need for the government to give small businesses a breathing space from multiple taxation.

The Chief Executive of Dideola and Co, a company that produces plastics, Mr. Durojaiye Moses urged the government to establish an MSMEs’ fund to assist operators instead of giving soft loans to friends and relations of those in positions of authority.