El-Rufai Advice the Government to Focus on More Tax Collections, Not More Borrowings

At the 22^nd Annual Tax Conference of Chartered Institute of Nigeria held on Thursday with the theme ‘Taxation and economic competitiveness: Imperatives for national development’, the Governor of kaduna State, Nasiru El-Rufai show concerns on the continuous borrowings of the government and fears that Nigeria might reach its maximum borrowing capacity if this persist.

El-Rufai said “Only a minority of Nigerians pay income tax, and the majority of this tiny minority are persons whose taxes are deducted at source, formal sector employees, public servants and the like.

“Perhaps as a result of colonial experience, we have been living in a country where paying taxes is treated as an illegitimate imposition. Voluntary compliance with the obligation to pay income tax remains a challenge.

“The total internally generated revenues by states are currently less than one per cent of the GDP, despite the fact that Nigeria’s current fiscal federalism framework allows states and local governments to collect many taxes, levies and fees.

“This low rate of internal revenue collection depresses public finances and hampers the ability to deliver social goods, services and physical infrastructure.

“This in turn limits competitiveness, shrinking the ability to promote the sort of economic dynamism that can create jobs, expand public revenues and improve public welfare.”

According to governor of kaduna State, El-Rufai, he believes that tax collection is a major challenge in the country which many state and federal governments appointed agencies find it difficult to collect as they ought to.