Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, says the federal
government will soon start collecting luxury taxes.
Addressing journalists at the annual meetings of the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in
Washington DC on Sunday, Adeosun said people with
higher income must bear a greater part of the tax
burden.
“The luxury tax planned by the federal government is
being finalised now because it cuts across the
ECOWAS. There is a legal process you must go
through, including the customs union to actually vary
the specific taxes,” she said.
“The problem we have in the country is not just that
the system needs to be overhauled, it is also that
people are not complying and this is because there is
no consequence. We have just started with Voluntary
Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) as a
measure to tackle that and the response is impressive.
“In any tax system, the burden must be borne by
anybody whose income allows to bear it, so those with
higher income should by definition, bear a greater part
of the burden.”
She disclosed that some rich people had approached
her to speak to their governors about taxes payable to
state governments.
“In fact, people have started declaring and I have had
a number of approaches from high net worth people
asking me to speak on their behalf to state governors
to allow them time to comply because their personal
taxes are payable to state governments,” she said.
“I have encouraged every governor that everyone who
comes to declare should be given enough time to pay
up. This is because the amount of tax that they would
have to pay is big.
“Whether taxing the rich will increase public revenue or
not, it is all about public revenue to which they are
obligated for public services.
“The problem currently is that those at the lower level
are the ones paying. If the man in the traffic control,
with little income will pay at source, why should we not
pursue the billionaire or the trillionaire to pay out of the
income? We need to change the mindset in the country
with regards to tax system.”
In August, Adeosun announced that the federal
government had signed a policy to tax first class and
business class air tickets alongside other luxury
goods.
Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, had earlier
said making the rich pay more taxes will not solve the
problem of inequality in the world and advised
countries to reduce the gender gap between men and
women.
However, Godwin Emefiele, governor of Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN), said women have not been
approaching the bank to access the funds set aside for
small and medium scale entrepreneurs.
“Of course I am a man, but I need to say there is a
need to support women. In our micro, small and
medium enterprises funds (MSMEs) of N220 billion,
60% is reserved for women but we are not even seeing
the women coming,” he said
Adeosun also called for the creation of more
opportunities for women saying “investing in women is
the best investment any country can make”.
TheCable
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