The brewing storm over the National Tax Bills (NTB), an ambitious and courageous initiative to reform the nation’s extant tax laws, is normal. While some Nigerians have accused critics of the bills as ethnic or religious champions, some feel strongly that the controversy is needless and would rather the bills be passed. Yet, others insist that the bills should be passed with some amendments.
Whichever side of the prism you look, what stares at you is ‘democracy in action.’ The debates should be encouraged. All the dialectics and diatribes are needed to build a consensus. But here is the caveat. In our passionate, sometimes bileful, arguments, no Nigerian should lose sight of the bottomline. That is, Nigeria needs a radically reformed tax system. Proponents for or against, must not lose their heads in the cloud of partisanship, geo-polity, ethnic divide or other closed-minded considerations. This is about Nigeria; the common good of all. This is about egalitarian questing, equity, fairness and inclusivity. These are the grand totems that should define the debate, not the parochial emblems of north versus south or east against the west.
To resort to fractious considerations and pulverisation of the debate is to do harm to our collective ethos; our shared values and prosperity. Even so, we discourage the quest for fiscal federalism which many Nigerians, of all divides, have always desired as the elixir for many of the ills that gnaw at the adhesives that hold the super-structure called Nigeria. By the way, kudos to Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, whose committee swotted and sweated to produce the bills. Taxmen are not usually the beloved of the people, but Oyedele comes across with a measured calmness, sobriety and humility that makes you not want to dislike him. He appears clear-headed about the bills and his demure disposition only gives you a sense of assurance that he knows what he is doing. He is the proverbial guide who knows the way and the destination and has the capacity to take you there. I admire his composed comportment. It’s even infectious.
So, what are the issues? Is the NTB pro-south, anti-north or anti-east? Never. Is it retrogressive? Not at all. A bill that seeks to put order in the existing disorder in which different agencies collect taxes thus creating room for manipulation and lack of accountability is good for the nation. A bill intended to repeal over 50 offensive taxes and levies, and harmonise the remaining taxes to a single tax digit is what Nigeria needs now and tomorrow. The NTB largely favours the poor in many ways. It exempts small businesses from payment of withholding tax, value-added tax (VAT), and guarantees zero percent on corporate income tax (CIT).
The NTB is workers-friendly as it offers exemption from personal income tax for minimum wage earners and reduced tax burden for over 90% of private and public sector workers.
What could be better than a bill that prescribes zero VAT for food, education, health, and exemption for rent and public transportation. These are items that daily impact the ordinary people and constitute an average of 82% of household consumption and nearly 100% for low income households. The bills therefore help to ameliorate the rising cost of living for the masses. Nigerians should embrace it.
It gets even better and more public-oriented as it offers reduction of corporate income tax rate from 30% to 25% over the next two years and elimination of earmarked taxes on companies to be replaced with a harmonised single levy at a reduced rate.
The proposed tax bill balances the dissonance between consumption tax (VAT) and production tax which have over the past years robbed many states of the tax accruals from resources that abound within their domains. On this and many more, you’d expect the Governors’ Forum to earnestly push for the passage of the bills.
And what if you realise that the bill eliminates minimum tax on loss-making companies and those with low margins as well as transfer income from the Electronic Money Transfer levy exclusively to states as part of stamp duties.
And how about this? The federal government will cede 5% out of its current 15% share of VAT revenue to states and effectively repeal outdated stamp duties laws to the advantage of states. The new bill will arrest the disadvantage of states not getting their deserved share of VAT revenues, a disadvantage skewed against the states by virtue of the location of the head offices of the VAT-paying companies. This is a major reason states should embrace the NTB and not reject it.
The Senate has done a smart thing. Purse the debate and seek wider consultation. This is not an indication that the bills have been or will be trashed. It is an endorsement of the NTB only that there should be a broader inquisition into its merits and perceived drawbacks. But while the bills are subjected to further analysis between the Executive and the Legislature, state governors who feared that the bills were intended to give them a short shrift should use the opportunity to dispassionately, without prejudice, scrutinise the tax documents. If they really do, some governors will realise that they spoke too soon against the NTB.
The NTB is not about President Tinubu. It is not about political party affiliations or other partisan promptings. It’s about national integration, even distribution of resources, about equity and fairness. What Oyedele and his team have proposed is revolutionary. Whether intended or not, the NTB presents the nation the most feasible tool to transit to true fiscal federalism, away from the age-long sloganeering that has defined the national discourse on fiscal federalism.
My proposition: The tax bills should be passed and assented into law. They represent a shift from the riotous tax administration of the past whereby different agencies collect taxes in their areas of regulation thereby creating room for unwholesome dealings.
