Increasing taxes and other tariffs is not something that Nigerians will be happy to hear but that may not stop the federal government from doing what it deems necessary to do....CONTINUE READING
The President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government has made it known that Nigerians may pay more taxes, tariffs and other levies. This was made known on behalf of the federal government by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed. According to a report by Daily Trust, Ahmed revealed that this plan has been captured in the medium term as proposed in the Finance Bill 2021. It means that the plan may be enforced any time soon.
Why increasing taxes and levies?
While many Nigerians are eager to know why this move is being made at this critical time, there are few explanations offered. One, the federal government wants to diversify its revenue base from oil. The focus is now to look at non-oil sources of revenue. After all, oil which has been Nigeria’s major revenue base over the years seems to be failing. Oil price has been dropping in recent time. This comes with a lot of implications in terms of budgeting, planning and meeting up government financial obligations.
Another reason was to increase the general revenue that the federal government earns. It appears that the paucity of funds has made the government think of ways to push up its revenue from what it is at the moment. Other ways to push that up are taxes, tariffs, levies and rates. This is another reason Ahmed gave that made the federal government to initiate this move.
While it is true that the citizens are the major sources of revenue for the government through their taxes, tariffs, levies and other payments, it is necessary for the government to think of the implications of increasing taxes. How will it affect the people, their families, businesses and standard of living at this critical time? The same federal government just proposed to remove fuel subsidy without introducing a better way of reducing its impact on the working class who will feel the heat. This same active working population/business owners will now be paying higher taxes, tariffs and levies according to this new move by the federal government. This move will simply make life harder for some Nigerians.
It would have been better if the federal government thinks outside the box by engaging in profitable ventures to raise money to meet its responsibilities instead of resorting to increasing taxes. Well, many other governments are engaging in businesses to make good money since they have the funds. The Nigerian government can think of doing so to make the load lighter for the tax payers.
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