Stakeholders Advocate Appropriate Taxation in Addressing Public Service Deficit

• Stakeholders Advocate Appropriate Taxation in Addressing Public Service Deficit

Actionaid Nigeria, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and other civil society organisations have called for appropriate tax payment by individuals and corporate entities in order to ensure provision of good and qualitative public service such as education and health.

They also advocated robust engagement with elected representatives at the National Assembly and state assemblies, most especially committees in charge of relevant public service sectors in order to increase the size of budgetary allocation to the sectors.

Actionaid Nigeria, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Human Development Initiatives made their position known at a forum they organised in Lagos to discuss the link between tax and the provision of public service.

They had argued that many projects and programmes under the public service had failed due to sudden stoppage of funding.

Leading a lecture on the topic: ‘Breaking barriers and tax justice and gender responsive public service project’, the Education Programme Coordinator, Actionaid Nigeria, Mr Laban Onisimus, noted that tax was the most reliable source of funding for public service such as education and other essential social services.

He said that aids, grants and loans were not as sustainable as tax, adding that the usage of the tax paid by the people and companies would be fair when it helped to reduce poverty and fulfil the tenets of Human Rights.

He said, “Tax is a major source of funding for public service such as education, health etc. Tax is the most predictable source to fund governance. Taxes, more than donor aids and loans, pay for education and health, etc.”