TUC Urges Employers To Comply With Tax Law

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) wants employers of labour to comply with the nation’s tax laws by paying their taxes so that their employees can enjoy the dividends of democracy.

The TUC’s General Secretary, Chief John Kolawole said in a statement on Saturday in Lagos that employers must also ensure that they remitted the taxes they collected to the appropriate jurisdiction.

“The Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) Laws of Nigeria state that an employee’s residence determines where an employer remits the employee’s personal income tax to.

“It is improper, illegal and unfair for some employers to deny workers the benefits of taxation when such employees reside in the border areas,” he said, citing Lagos and Ogun States as examples.

The TUC scribe also said that it was not right for an employee’s tax to be deducted and paid to another state, adding that employers must respect the residency rule provision of the PITA.

“Such people are deprived of the money and do not benefit from the services that the money is intended to provide.”

“If someone lives in a particular state and sees his tax deducted every month, that person has expectations that health, education, roads and other amenities will be provided.

“But if that money is funding those services in a state where such employees do not reside, and are not entitled to benefit from them, there is injustice,” he said.

Kolawole endorsed the current campaign by the Ogun government to get employers to comply with the residency rule provision of the nation’s PITA.