Senate to streamline Nigeria’s multiple taxation system- Saraki

Senate to streamline Nigeria’s multiple taxation system- Saraki

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday stated that the 8th Senate will work to streamline Nigeria’s multiple taxation system to improve the ease of doing business in the country. Speaking at a dialogue at the 22nd Edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the Senate President, while answering questions from the audience, stated that Nigeria’s corporate taxation system needed to be reformed and revamped to get the country out of the economic recession. 

 

“With  37 million small and medium scale enterprises providing about 95  percent of our jobs, as we promote ‘Made in Nigeria’, we must also use  our legislative powers to amend the taxation laws,” he said, “To get out  of this recession, we must provide a business-friendly environment.”

Speaking  on the ‘Made in Nigeria’ theme of the summit, the Senate President  lauded the organisers for keying into the Senate’s plan to empower  home-grown businesses and ensure that Nigerian brands are strong enough  to be patronized by our people and exported abroad.

“Earlier  this year, when in the Senate we started the ‘Made in Nigeria’  campaign, we knew how important it was, but even we did not foresee how  far it would go,” he said. “To promote the patronage of our domestic  businesses, the Senate has gone as far as amending the Public  Procurement Act to compel government ministries, departments and  agencies to key into this initiative.”

“It  is our hope that Nigerian businesses can begin to benefit from the over  N2 trillion in government expenditure in the 2016 budget,” he  continued, “So that we can reduce the demand on foreign exchange while  simultaneously creating employment, moving towards self sufficiency,  increasing our GDP and boosting our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Saraki  also stated that the anti-recession Bills that the Senate has scheduled  for passage by December ending include: the Petroleum Industry Bill;  the National Development Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill; the  Nigerian Ports and Habours Authority Act (Amendment) Bill; the National  Road Fund (Establishment) Bill; the National Transport Commission Act of  2001; the Warehouse Receipts Act (Amendment) Bill; the Companies and  Allied Matters Act (CAMA); the Investment and Securities Act (ISA); the  Customs and Excise Management Act; the Federal Competition Bill; and the  National Road Authority Bill.

Saraki  also mentioned that since the beginning of the year, the Senate has  worked to fast-track the over 40 priority bills recommended by the  National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER), an  initiative in which the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) is a major  partner.

The  Senate President also said that one of the plans that the Senate has to  ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in this  administration, is to break the Bill into different sections for easier  passage. The Senate President emphasised that with the passage of the  PIB, Nigeria would generate more revenue from oil — putting it on track  to come out of the economic recession.

“By focusing more on outcomes, rather than processes. The Nigerian Senate has been able to pass 20 Bills for Final Reading in two weeks.”he said

This post first appeared on Linda Ikeji's Blog. Read the original story here.

Source: Senate to streamline Nigeria’s multiple taxation system- Saraki