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Chamber advises FG to capture online business operators in tax system

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited (ACCI) has called on the Federal Government to devise workable means of capturing Nigerian online companies into…

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited (ACCI) has called on the Federal Government to devise workable means of capturing Nigerian online companies into the nation’s taxation system.

The President of ACCI, Mr Tony Ejinkonye, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

NAN recalled that the Federal Government had promised to explore other innovative methods to increase its revenue to finance the N6.8 trillion 2016 budget.

Government had recently, through the Minster of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udo Udoma, had said that it would not raise corporate tax because it did not want to impose additional burden on Nigerians.

It, however, said that those who made money and were not paying taxes should pay to government.

To this end, Ejinkonye noted that it was important for government to look towards the direction of online companies registered in Nigeria. 

“In oversees, those online businesses are captured within the tax net.

“So it is up to government and the FIRS to ensure that the online business operators are within the tax nets.

“What they simply have to do is for government and the FIRS to capture them into tax net, because remittances to these online businesses are through the banks.

“So through the banks, they can determine the level of turnover each of these companies make and simply put them in the tax net.“

Enjinkonye said that the only way government could actually fund infrastructure development and every other envisaged project in the country was to diversify its income inflows.

He explained that given the prediction that price of crude oil would still fall below 20 dollars, it was important to explore other sources of generating income.

`And one of those sources is taxation; get the online companies into the tax net; get the MSMES. 

“Even the small time business men, they make up a bulk of the economy; they must get into the tax net,“ he said.

The ACCI President said that the organisation had already embarked on sensitisation drive to create awareness on the need for small business to support the government through payment of tax.

He added that it was the duty of the business community to support the current administration to salvage the economy. (NAN)

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