By Dipo Olowookere
The House of Representatives on Thursday stepped down a bill for an Act to Amend the Personal Income Tax Act, Cap. P8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The bill, in its second reading and moved by Mr Tasir Olawale Raji, a lawmaker from Lagos State, was stepped down yesterday by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Yussuf Lasun, who presided over plenary, because the bill did not come with a compendium.
A compendium is a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication.
Mr Raji, who moved the motion, explained that the bill seeks to make it mandatory that tax is remitted to tax authorities where an individual works and not where they live.
For a long time, there have been debates on where tax deducted from employees should be remitted.
While some believe that tax authorities where a worker lives should take the personal income tax, others say the tax should be remitted to where the office is located.
However, the lawmaker said the bill, when passed, will have the potential of giving rise to disputes amongst employers, taxpayers and tax authorities with respect to the appropriate authority for tax remittance and filing of tax returns.
But during his debate, another lawmaker from Bauchi State, Mr Muhammad Sani Abdu, raised a point of order under Order 12(3), stating that a compendium ought to have been delivered.
In response, Mr Raji said the compendium was submitted along with the brief, but Chairman Rules and Business, Mr Emmanuel Yisa Orker Jev, said he has always been a proponent of Members complying with the rule.
Mr Jev further stated that the brief was not same as the compendium and that he had also not received it.
Consequently, the Deputy Speaker ruled that the Bill be stepped down until the compendium has been made available.
