By Danladi Ahmed
The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the ban on collection of taxes and levies on highways nationwide as a major fulfillment of a promise to end people’s burden of misery caused by nuisance taxes.
The group also said it was a further proof that the new tax laws were not targeted at poor people.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG maintained that the ban reflects the mindset of a government bent on easing the burden of unnecessary taxes and levies on Nigerians.
It said, “We acknowledge that collection of taxes and levies on the nation’s highways has been a major issue for different categories of people over the years.
“It falls into the category of nuisance taxes that the President Bola Tinubu administration said would have to go in the aftermath of the new tax law that is now operational.
“We recall that the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms had indicated two years ago that Nigerians should expect a tax reform that would eliminate as many as 50 nuisance taxes including those collected at highway road blocks across the country.
“So the recent announcement by the Joint Tax Board (JTB) of a formal ban on the mounting of roadblocks for tax and levy collections nationwide, was strictly in line with provisions of the tax reforms of the President Tinubu administration.
“The ban is captured under the newly signed Presumptive Tax Framework (PTF) which is meant to simplify tax payment by small business owners, artisans, traders and other micro enterprises but most importantly, it prohibits tax officials at road blocks.
“We see this as a good move especially that since the new tax laws went into operation more than two months ago, local government personnel have continued to mount road blocks in many parts of the country collecting all sorts of taxes and levies.
“Like the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun said, the framework will protect small business owners who are regularly subjected to multiple taxes while also expanding the nation’s tax base.
“We understand that even long before the new tax reforms were passed into law, there had been series of engagements among representatives of all tiers of government which culminated in the signing of the PTF which is a part of the tax reform programme.
“We dare say that local government authorities will be able to generate more revenue from the new arrangement without having to pile multiple taxes as unnecessary pressure on people in their respective domains.
“There is therefore real reason for Nigerians to look forward to the JTB, which coordinates tax administration among the tiers of government, doing a good job of ensuring that local authorities derive the necessary benefits from the new tax laws without sending people to block highways to collect taxes and levies.”
TMSG urged the authorities to move swiftly to enforce the ban on tax collection on highways nationwide.
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