Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee, Taiwo Oyedele has urged state governments to target the wealthiest 10 per cent of the Nigerian population to widen their tax nets.
He decried the focus by the state government on the poor majority for tax implementation instead of the high net-worth Nigerians.
Speaking with reporters in Abuja at the weekend, Oyedele said: “Virtually, every state in Nigeria is chasing the bottom 90 percent to collect taxes. They are allowing the top 10 percent to have a field day.”
He insisted that the issue of poor tax administration in the country lies with governments failing to collect taxes from high-income earners, which the ongoing Tax Reform Bills seek to address.
Highlighting the revenue generated from personal income tax (PIT), Oyedele said in 2023, the total PIT collected nationwide amounted to N1.5 trillion.
Oyedele who compared the figure to the N10 trillion generated from the removal of fuel subsidies and foreign exchange (FX) subsidies, noted that the substantial revenue comes from the same Nigerians who now face financial difficulties.
He said: “Even if we declare a tax-free year for personal income tax in Nigeria, every state will still be financially well-off. Do you know why? It means we would forgo N1.5 trillion from PIT, but we are already generating N10 trillion into the federation account from subsidy removal and naira floatation. So, the reforms should be viewed holistically, not just one line of revenue.”
On supporting small businesses, Oyedele announced that the Reform Bills propose to raise the tax exemption threshold for businesses from N25 million to N50 million in annual turnover.
