Coalition of stakeholders and professionals on taxation, “Taxation, Justice for Governance Platform,” has called on Kano State government to disengage tax consultants.
The coalition made the call in a communique made available to newsmen on Friday, at the end of its two-day tax summit held in Kano between Nov. 3 and Nov. 5.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit proffered some lasting solutions to persistent tax related issues in the state.
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The communique signed by Dr Mustapha Yahya, coordinator of the summit, stated that, “Government should drop the idea of engaging consultants on any tax collection but rather encourage and utilise the services of local experts.”
It also recommended that government must provide strategy for tax payers’ inclusion at all stages, and provide incentives to its staff, as well as trainings for efficient tax collection.
The communique stressed the need for the involvement of traditional leaders in planning and implementation of state tax policy, since they were close to the grassroot.
It said, “Government must diversify its income/revenue base to actualise resilience, as well as increase the knowledge of citizens on taxation.”
The coalition also stressed the need for Kano Internal Revenue Service to assess citizen’s perception on tax payment, collection and specifically, tax for service.
It highlighted the need to improve the state’s internally generated revenue, noting that there must be a single treasury account.
The coalition called for synergy between Kano Internal Revenue Service and other stakeholders and review existing laws to enhance tax revenue.
The summit was supported by Patnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), a Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) initiative.
PERL is a five-year public sector accountability and governance programme launched in 2016, as a politically smart and adaptive programme.
It aims at improving collaboration between governments and citizens to tackle governance challenges and improve service delivery. (NAN)
