Women Mrs Justina Okoror, Chairperson of the Society of Women in Taxation (SWIT), the female body of the Chartered Institute of Taxation in Nigeria (CITN), has said that women are mostly affected by tax policies.

Okoror said this at a press briefing on Monday in Abuja to announce the forthcoming inauguration of SWIT and the investiture ceremony of its chairperson and other members.

“In the Nigerian society, those affected mostly by tax policies are women who are mostly at the lowest point of the economic ladder,’’ Okoror said.

“Indeed tax governance in Nigeria must be made to be friendlier towards the female gender. It is therefore important that they must have voice and be heard on issues that affect them in this sector.’’

She said some of the taxes affecting rural women included multiple taxation and extortion, among others.

Okoror said, however, that the organisation would encourage rural women to pay taxes in order to hold the government accountable to providing basic amenities for them.

“The focus now is to get various governments and hold them to account on behalf of these women. These women are basically farmers, if they cannot transport their goods to the markets or bring back seedlings to farms, they are being cheated,’’ she explained.

“They pay their taxes yet cannot enjoy the dividends of democracy. SWIT recognises the increasing role and special place of women in economic development particularly in the formation and implementation of tax policies.’’

She added that the organisation sought to address various issues of taxation, especially multiple taxation as it affects Nigerian women at the grassroots, among others.

Mr Rasaq Quadri, President of the CITN, said taxation was now the highest revenue earner only after oil and gas.

“People think everything is tax; People should be able to differentiate between fines, levies, extortion and tax. We are partnering the Federal Inland Revenue Service in terms of enlightenment,’’ he said.

He added that  VAT increment was not wrong as other taxes such as Personal Income Tax were being reduced from 25 to 17 per cent among other taxes.

He said reduction would further improve the standard of living in the country.

Mrs Ezinne Okoroafor, the Secretary of SWIT, explained: “When people understand that it is their duty to pay taxes, then they will understand that they can hold their elected officers accountable and demand what is rightfully theirs.’’

She commended CITN for creating the female arm and providing all the necessary support to ease the suffering of women a little.

Reports say that SWIT has 2,000 members, drawn from various fields and executives based in the six geo-political zones of the country.