Business
Agency Decries Multiple Taxation
The Director- General of Small and Medlum Enterprises Development Agency of Nigerian (SMEDAN),Mr. Muhammad Nadada Umar, has decried the effect of multiple taxation on most small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
Umar, who said that most SMEs are at the urge of folding up due to multiple taxation from different angles, said that the enterprises suffer the multiple taxes in addition to poor access to funds for thir business.
According to the SMEDAN Director General, the SMEs also face lack of rural infrastructure, poor access to business information, as well as low synergy amongst the three tiers of government.
Umar, who was represented by the organisation’s Director of Planning, Mr. Wale Fashe, at the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM), programme, reiterated the need for government to improve infrastructure in the country.
Fashe also called for easy access to long-term finance to strengthen the growth of indigenous companies in the country, adding, the need for collaboration between SMEDAN, the capital market and money market, which he said would create effective viable Asem.
In a related development, the Manager of City Crown Hotel in Port Harcourt Haracourt, Mr. Abu Adullahi, reiterated the need for Rivers State Government to look into the issue of multiple taxation to businesses in the state.
Abullahi decried the effect of the multiple taxes and levies from different quarters, saying that these would scare away investors from the state.
He also called on the constituted financial authorities to ensure that businesses are not taxed without assessment of the income and the financial base of the company, adding that this has liquidated many companies and this is not in the best interest of the state that works hard to attract investors”.