By Adedapo Adesanya
Mr Taiwo Oyedele, fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has been named chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms.
According to Mr Dele Alake, the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of the reforms team on Friday.
He named the PwC tax maverick as the chairman of the group, which will be mandated to look at tax administration and policies amid current economic realities in the country.
Also speaking on behalf of the President, Mr Adelabu Zacch Adedeji, the President’s Special Adviser on Revenue, emphasized the critical role of a robust fiscal policy environment and an efficient taxation system for the functioning of the government and the economy.
Mr Adedeji highlighted Nigeria’s poor ranking in global ease of paying taxes and its low Tax-to-GDP ratio, which is significantly below the African average.
He noted that these factors have resulted in heavy reliance on borrowing to finance public spending, thereby limiting fiscal space and hindering socio-economic development.
“While some progress has been made over the years, it has not been sufficient to effect a transformative change in the prevailing situation,” Mr Adedeji noted.
Mr Oyedele has been vocal about the country’s tax administration and recently kicked against plans by the federal government to introduce a yearly vehicle ownership verification tax, which the Lagos State government said it would implement from this month.
“This tax is retrogressive. It is ill-conceived and poorly designed. Apart from the payment, which seems to be solely for revenue generation, and perhaps more for non-state actors than for the government, it is illogical to have to prove annually that you own a vehicle for which you already have a certificate of proof of ownership issued by the government.
“The tax adds complications to the myriad of multiple taxes, which make doing business difficult and dampens tax morale,” he quipped.
