BABAJIDE OKEOWO
The Society of Women in Taxation (SWIT) has described as disheartening and worrisome the lopsidedness in states contribution to the tax drive of the country following the revelation that Lagos State contributed 70 percent of the N5.2 trillion taxes collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2018.
This was revealed during this year’s edition of the SWIT Seminar, which forms part of the yearly tax conference of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), that the gap in tax collection across States shows that the long four-year tax reforms and the campaign doesn’t have any impact in other States.
According to the pioneer Chairperson of SWIT, Justina Okoro, she is bothered by the contribution of other States which was estimated at 30 percent of the total tax collection by the tax regulators.
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According to Okoro, there is a need to expand tax collections into the interior parts of Nigeria if the number of people in the tax pool is to increase and the nation’s tax base is to expand.
“For instance, out of the trillions of naira generated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), 70 percent came from Lagos, which means that 35 states plus FCT contributed only 30 percent. That also means that there are so many states with nearly no productive activities happening, and by implication are not paying tax. If Lagos decides to become a sovereign state, Nigeria will not be able to generate any revenue from tax”.
She enjoined FG to take the issue of tax generation more seriously. “Government must take the issue of tax revenue generation seriously just like what is being done with crude oil. They should go into these places with natural resources and make it another revenue base” she said
Okoro said the cities are the only ones living up to their tax commitment, while suburbs and local councils are lagging behind. She lamented that the government is losing tax in states that are mining gold, diamond, and other natural resources.
