The 60th president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Davidson Alaribe, has said that the religious implementation of the tax reform bills, when passed into law, could transform the Nigerian economy.
Alaribe said this during a reception held in his honour under the theme ‘Understanding the Nigeria Tax Reforms, ‘ which also had in attendance the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele.
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives approved the tax reform bills forwarded by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly in October 2024.
The bills include the Nigerian Tax Bill, the Tax Administration Bill, the Revenue Tax Board Bill, and the Nigerian Revenue Service Establishment Bill.
Speaking at the event, Alaribe said, “Some of our tax laws are archaic. The tax reform bills, if passed into law, will try to bring our tax system in line with best practices. For once, I think we will get it right. With what they have put in place and if it is implemented religiously, it will improve our revenue drive and the way we act, our consumption pattern. Ultimately, our tax system will improve, and the Nigerian economy will improve.”
Oyedele, speaking after the event, said the tax reform bills will facilitate economic growth and also protect low-income earners and small businesses from being exempted and large businesses from having less burden of taxes and even harmonisation of the taxes that they need to pay.
“The conversation was about all stakeholders rallying round, supporting the bills so that we can use that as a stepping stone towards transforming our economy towards something that we can all be proud of,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Group Managing Director of FirstHoldCo, Adebowale Oyedeji, who was also at the event, concurred that there was a need to reform Nigeria’s tax system, saying, “The tax-to-GDP ratio for Nigeria is about 7.1 per cent, for South Africa, it’s about 29 per cent and the average for Africa is about 16 per cent, You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that we need to do something critical about our tax system.”
We need a reform, and the initiatives being pursued are good ones.”
