Nigeria needs right tax policies for development - CITN

The President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Mr Adesina Adedayo, has said that Nigeria needs the right tax and fiscal policies to develop economically.

He spoke during a press briefing ahead of its 25th annual tax conference scheduled to take place in Abuja with the theme, ‘Nigeria of the future: Achieving sustainable development through taxation’.

Adedayo said, “For Nigeria to effectively develop economically, we must get our tax and fiscal policies right. And I believe that it is only through critical thinking and effective harmonisation of same that we as professionals can help government to navigate through all these.

“Therefore, this conference provides an opportunity for all Nigerians to gather, think and deliberate on actionable strategies to secure a future for Nigeria that grantees sustainable development through effective taxation.”

As a nation, he said, the country was confronted by several economic challenges that challenged its corporate existence.

These challenges, he said, ranged from declining revenue from the sales of crude oil, depreciating value of the naira, rising debt burden and increasing government spending among others.

In the middle of all these, he said, Nigeria’s tax revenue to Gross Domestic Product ratio was low and considered one of the lowest in Africa.

Speaking on the facilitators at the event, he said the first paper presenter, would be the Country Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme Nigeria, Mr Mohamed Yahya, and he would give in-depth insights into the theme of the conference.

The second paper presentation would be done by the Executive Director, Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition and Fund for Constitutional Government, Ian Gary. He would speak on ‘Global progress toward public country-by-country reporting and tax transparency requirements for multinational companies.