With a raft of policy reforms sweeping in the economy currently, the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) has called on the new administration to tackle the rising incidence of multiple taxation and challenges around implementing its policies.
This, the association said, will ensure that the economy is geared towards growth and companies regulated will be able to thrive.
The Chairman, NBA-SBL, Dr Adeoye Adefulu, stated this during a courtesy visit by NBA-SBL council members to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), as part of the activities leading up to the 2023 edition of the NBA-SBL conference and exhibition in Lagos recently.
Multiple taxation has been affecting the operations of many listed companies negatively in the country, depleting returns on investments, eroding the capital base of listed firms and subsequently triggering business collapse.
Expressing concern over the development, Adefulu said the Federal, state and local governments are yet to come to a stand as to what their tax relationship or tax responsibilities lie.
“We have a law around that but that law is often not implemented and so for the three tiers of government to sit down to determine what taxes that should be levied and who should be levying those taxes, I think it is really important to do.
Beyond that, we have a number of levies issued by different regulatory agencies and sometimes we have situations whereby three agencies (whether Federal, State and Local) are issuing the same levy and so we have to have some sort of consistency around this issue and the issue of multiple regulation and taxation, that is a major challenges and that is something the new government must focus on”, Adefulu explained.
According to him, Nigeria still suffers from implementation issues. “Our problem is in implementation and implementation is all about putting the right people in the right positions to enhance such implementations. It is also a question of leadership, once you have the right leadership that steps in when people have gone off course despite giving them targets, I think that would help significantly in implementation. Thus, a focus on a vision and knowing what to do and when to do it is critical to the new government”, he said.
The Chairman, NBA-SBL, further emphasized that the partnership and collaboration with NGX were crucial for the future development of the capital market and the Nigerian economy.
Earlier in his opening remark, the Chief Executive Officer, NGX, Temi Popoola, who was represented by the Divisional Head, Capital Markets at NGX, Jude Chiemeka, expressed the Exchange’s desire to strengthen its partnership with the NBA-SBL, particularly in the area of corporate governance to foster an improved marketplace for key stakeholders.
Credit: Daily Sun