Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs
Holdings, says multiple taxations and levies kill 95 percent of small and
medium scale businesses in Nigeria.
NAN reports that Elumelu made this statement
on Thursday while speaking at the Lagos Business School Alumni Association 2017
Alumni Day in Lagos.
He said five percent of the small businesses
that survived after one year was a big disincentive to the nation in terms of
employment creation.
The entrepreneur said multiple business
regulation, multiple taxation and inconsistent government policies affect SMEs
competitiveness and their ability to attract capital in their investment
climate.
He said despite the multiple taxation, Nigeria
remains the lowest in the world with 10 percent tax contribution to gross
domestic product (GDP).
“It seems we have a big problem, because, with
high taxation and multiple levies, it is expected we should have very high tax
revenue,’’ he said.
He said the government should find out the
reason for the discrepancy between desired growth and development.
He urged the government to create a more
conducive environment that would encourage survival of SMEs in order to reduce
the unemployment rate.
“Government doesn’t create jobs, it is the
right enabling environment for SMEs that create jobs.”
He urged the government to streamline all
taxation and levies across the three tiers of government to avoid the collapse
of SMEs.
Taiwo Oyedele, head of tax and corporate
advisory services, PwC Nigeria, called for the amendment of the constitution to
ensure coordination among the three tiers of government and their agencies.
Oyedele said the multiplicity of government
agencies with the same work function was becoming worrisome.
“You don’t need tax incentives for people to
do business, we just need to remove the disincentives,” he said.
Source: The Cable
No comments: