Tax practitioners got royal endorsement today when the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, asked Muslims and all Nigerians to do their duties and pay their taxes.
According to the Emir, without taxes, provision of amenities like schools, roads, hospitals will not be possible.
Emir Sanusi spoke in Kano when the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) Tunde Fowler, led 36 state Chairmen of the State Boards of Internal Revenue to the Emir’s palace in Kano on a royal visit as part of the 134th meeting of the JTB.
The Emir said: “you are welcome to Kano. We are all familiar with the good work you did in Lagos. I hope you will bring that experience to the national level so that it will help address some of the problems we are facing at the national level.
“People have always said that the Nigerian economy depends on oil. Oil contributes only 15 per cent to Nigeria‘s GDP. But because government is not looking at other sources so that those sectors will also contribute to growth in the county.
“I ask the people of Kano, every Nigerian to pay their taxes. The social services that government provide: roads, hospitals, schools are provided by taxes.
“There are a lot people who believe that taxes are not Islamic. That is not correct. During the time of Sayidina Umar (one of the caliphs of Prophet Mohammed), people paid taxes. So taxes are not new in Islam. People should pay their taxes. People should be patient and pay their taxes. A lot of social amenities we enjoy will not be possible if we don’t pay taxes.
Emir Sanusi asked the Joint tax Board to contain the problem of multiple taxation, simplify tax laws and continue to educate taxpayers on what taxes to pay, where to pay taxes and how to pay taxes.
Chairman of JTB, who is also the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Tunde Fowler, said the JTB team is at the Emir’s palace to receive royal blessing as they deliberate on the Imperatives of Transitioning From Oil Revenue Dependency to non-non-Oil Revenue Sufficiency.
Said Fowler: “We all know that the days of oil as our major source of income are long gone. “We are at your palace to seek royal blessing and to be blessed by your words of blessing, wisdom and guidance.
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who spoke through the Commissioner of Finance, Isa Dandago noted that the theme is timely as Nigeria grapples with declining oil revenues.
He disclosed that the State government has established the Servicom directorate to enhance efficiency, while the newly constituted Kano IRS and its board, consists of professionals who are experienced in revenue matters.
Seasoned tax consultants and scholars, state chairmen of tax boards are discussing how to transit from oil dependency to non-oil sufficiency.
