Enugu govt rallies business community on tax reform

The Enugu State Internal Revenue Service has extended a hand of fellowship to the Enugu business community to be part of development of Enugu City for the benefit of all residents even as business community commends Governor Peter Mbah’s transformation reform.

Emmanuel Nnamani, chairman, Enugu State Internal Revenue Service, who took the sensitisation of the Enugu State tax reform to meet with the Enugu Business Community at the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture headquarters, said that no state can develop without the input of the organised private sector.

He said that in carrying out the reform, government wants to ensure that government revenue gets into the government account first, saying what has appeared as magic to some people who asked where the government got the money it is using to do most of its projects was as a result of taxes being paid directly into the government account.

The chairman also reminded the business community the importance of keeping good records of their sales to avoid being taxed unnecessarily, emphasizing that the state government has never increased tax. He said that the Internal Revenue Service only expanded the scope of their tax collection within the law and ensured that those who are supposed to pay tax are made to pay while those that should not pay are not taxed.

“All the taxes we are collecting are in accordance with the law. We haven’t introduced any new tax. We are also going to do a lot to ensure that the taxes they pay, especially in the informal sector, are reduced through consolidation. Even in the formal sector, we are going to consolidate their payment to ensure that they pay once and go about their normal businesses,” Nnamani said.

According to him, “What we are trying to do is to create that awareness between the Internal Revenue Service, and the government as a whole and in the business community, explaining to them the government effort in creating ease of doing business, to all of them, as well as their obligation as it concerns payment of the taxes, method of payment and how we can make that payment very easy for them.

“We have been able to explain to them our methodology in payment. We have also listened to their concerns about multiple collections in different part of the state, especially outside the metropolis. We listen to that. We are addressing it, and I can assure you that in a very few days from now, we are going to tackle them head on.

“As for people who have what we call trust deficit, what is government going to do with the money collected? I can tell you that even the blind in Enugu, they can see that the work is ongoing with smart school going on in every political ward. In the state type2 hospital and 10-kilometer road in every ward is visible even the revamping of most of our dead or abandoned infrastructure. The International Conference Centre is up. Presidential Hotel will be up very soon. The oil people are declaring interest in it. Niger gas is coming up, So, the government is doing a lot creating a new Enugu where all of us envision a city that is beyond our comprehension,” he said.

Ifeanyi Okoye, founder of Juhel Pharmaceutical Company, former president of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, who chaired the interaction the forum, commended the Enugu State government for the initiative it took to meet with thee organised private sector to discuss tax issues.

“If you are a business man and somebody collects money from you as tax and you don’t see anything he is doing with it you will be disturbed, but this a situation where government itself has decided to chat with us to exchange ideas, plan with us so that we can go together and I want to believe this is the first time we are having this in Enugu state in recent times.

“I have been here for more than 30years, and you will agree with me for those living here that the kind of transformation we are seeing in Enugu now has never happened before. Most of our roads are being touched without ceremonies, security is almost improving every day; so, the business environment in Enugu State is improving every day,” Okoye said.