President Bola Tinubu has set up a presidential committee saddled with the responsibility of reforming Nigeria’s fiscal and tax policies to foster a healthy tax culture that can drive voluntary compliance and boost investment in the country.
Presidency spokesman, Dele Alake in a press statement on Friday said the intention of the government is to transform the tax system to support sustainable development and achieve a minimum of 18% tax-to-GDP ratio within 3 years without stifling investments or economic growth.
The presidency statement, however, outlined key challenges confronting Nigeria’s tax system including multiple taxes and revenue collection agencies, a fragmented and complex tax system, low tax morale, high prevalence of tax evasion, high cost of revenue administration, lack of coordination between fiscal and economic policies, and poor accountability in the utilization of tax revenue.
“The committee’s primary objective is to enhance revenue collection efficiency, ensure transparency reporting and promote the effective utilization of tax morale”, the statement said.
NIGERIA ranks very low on the global ease of paying taxes while the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world and well below the African average.
