• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Ogun decries loss of mobile advert revenue to joint tax law

Ogun decries loss of mobile advert revenue to joint tax law

Apparently disturbed by the incessant loss of revenue due to joint tax law applicable to all States of the Federation on mobile advert stickers used in branding vehicles, tricycles and motorcycles, the Ogun State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OGSAA) has demanded a review of the law.

The demand for immediate review of the joint tax law becomes imperative in order to effectively fight the counterfeiting of the mobile advert stickers and involvement of counterfeiters in the illegal production and distribution of different states’ mobile stickers across the country.

Speaking at the launch of the OR Scanner-enabled mobile advert stickers for 2022 for Ogun State in Abeokuta recently, Fola Onifade, General Manager of Ogun State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OGSAA), berated the issue and loss of revenue being caused by joint tax law that guides the operations of mobile advert stickers.

Onifade noted something urgent must be done to review the joint tax law in order to fight counterfeiting and earn more revenue for the States Government, saying States of the Federation might earn little or nothing on mobile advert stickers if such an ugly situation persists in the country.

He said, “There is a joint tax law and the provision of the law is that once you pay a tax (on mobile advert) in a State it covers for the whole Country, so what we believe and what should apply or what is in application is that once you have this sticker in Ogun State it applies to all over the Country and once you have the sticker from another State, it applies to Ogun State.

Read also: LASAA sensitises operators on regulation of outdoor adverts

“Last year we were in strong affiliation with LASAA in Lagos State, we exchanged records, if we got some people here we confirmed, if it was actually from them and if they got people there, they (LASAA) confirmed, if it was actually from us, from that we were able to discover some fake LASAA and some fake OGSAA permit.

“So, we have relationships across the States, this year we are already in touch with Ekiti State, Kogi State, Ondo State and Oyo State because we have discovered that some of these unscrupulous elements have started bringing in Ekiti stickers to come and sell and we are sure that we are going to meet them at the point.

“Counterfeiting still remains a critical source of concern not for OGSAA alone but for all revenue generating agencies, we can’t send them packing all at once, all we can do is to make it as difficult as possible for them. I know with the strength we have now, the capacity we have built with these three gentleman companies (those with concessions to sell the stickers in the State), we should be able to nail that.

“We have inaugurated three marketers who are Front Integrated Service Limited for Ogun Central, Penthouse Multimedia Limited for Ogun West and Aremu Seniyan Ventures for Ogun East, with them we should be able to nail the counterfeiters.

“In the stickers there are some barcodes there, QR codes, those codes once you scan it, it gives you the name of the vehicle, the number of the vehicle running it and there are other security too that you can’t see, but when you pass the sticker through Mercury light, you will get those security features.

“You don’t need any gadget, all you need is your phone, on your phone too, you can do the check, if I tell you it is a fake and you feel it is not fake, I will ask you to scan it with your phone and your phone will tell you, you are holding a fake sticker or not.”