Tax Reform Bills Not North Vs South Issue, Says FIRS Official

An official of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mathew Gbonjubola, says the controversial tax reform bills of the current administration should be made a north versus south issue.

On October 3, Tinubu asked the National Assembly to consider and pass four tax reform bills. The bills include the Nigeria tax bill, the tax administration bill, and the joint revenue board establishment bill.

Tinubu is also seeking to repeal the law establishing the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and replace it with the Nigeria Revenue Service.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the FIRS Coordinating Director of Compliance and Enforcement Group said many Nigerians are ignorant of the bills.

READ ALSO: Tax Reform Bills Dead On Arrival At NASS – Ndume

“I don’t think we should make this a north versus south or east versus west issue,” he said. “A lot of people who are commenting on those bills have not even read them.”

“Some of the arguments that are coming out are actually inaccurate. Many people base their commentaries on hearsay.”

Dead On Arrival

Meanwhile, a federal lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly (NASS), Ali Ndume, says the tax reform bills sent to the legislative arm of government by President Bola Tinubu are dead on arrival.

Ndume said the President should listen to the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Northern Governors’ Forum and immediately withdraw the bills.

“If it goes on like that, I can tell you that it will be dead on arrival. We don’t need to study the bill,” the unsparingly blunt lawmaker known for his unconventional stance said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday.

Ndume, one of the longest and fiercest lawmakers in the National Assembly, said the Federal Government should be looking at ways to reduce the tax burden on Nigerians and not increase it.

“The general thing is that Nigerians are not willing to talk about or pay any tax now considering the (economic) situation we are in now,” he said.

“Nigerians are willing to pay taxes but they can only pay taxes when they can afford it. Right now, people are struggling to survive. Let people live first before you start asking them for taxes.”

The senator said, “It will be fair to shut the bill down, it is the fairest thing to do”, indicating that he has started campaigning against the bills among his colleagues and is getting good support to throw out the bills.

Ndume, who is in the President’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the Tinubu administration needs to reform itself and not increase taxes paid by Nigerians.