-reveals potential economic impacts on the people
By Shadrach Okon
The Executive Chairman of Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS) Sir Okon Okon, has given an expert’s opinion on the tax reform bills before the National Assembly and the potential economic impact of the bills on the people of Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria at large.
Sir Okon Okon, who commented on the proposed fiscal reforms while fielding questions from journalists recently in Uyo, said the bills will help to review some stale laws in the field of taxation, relief lower income earners from tax burdens and bringing high net worth individuals into the tax bracket.
“The bill is set to review some of the stale laws in the field of taxation in Nigeria. Some of the laws are as old as colonial days. Like one of the bills, Nigerian Tax Bill, is aimed at bringing all the tax laws into one law book as a compendium of the tax laws in Nigeria for ease of reference and also to remove conflict and grey areas, make the law very clear, easy for people to understand and operationalize. ”
“Interms of how it will help our people in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria generally, the bill is set to support and help the lower income people by reducing the tax rate of the lower income people, bringing some many lower income people out of the tax bracket as they will be exempted from certain taxes, get waivers or zero rate on some tax. So, the bill is set to promote economic development, help the lower income people to grow and bring more of the high net worth individuals into the tax net.”
Sir Okon Okon, expressed optimism that the bill when passed into will promote the ease of doing business and help small and medium scale enterprises to thrive in the country.
According to him, “It is our belief that if we can bring the very rich into the tax net, we don’t need to bother the poor, those who are struggling to earn a living. If for instance you earn an income that is less than eight hundred thousand naira a year, why should we bother you with tax?
Those people will be exempted from Personal Income Tax. And if you are doing business and your business is making less than fifty million naira turnover in a year, you will be exempted from corporate tax. So, that is aimed at promoting small scale industry and generally promote the ease of doing business.
It would be recalled that the four Tax Reform Bills before the National Assembly were forwarded to the National Assembly following approval of the Federal Executive Council in October, the Federal Government says the bills are aimed at overhauling the nation’s tax system.
The four bills include: the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill. The proposed legislation seeks to consolidate existing tax laws, establish clearer frameworks for tax administration, and create bodies like the Tax Appeal Tribunal and the Office of the Tax Ombudsman.
