The National Associa
tion of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) Lagos State branch has appealed to the state government to exempt or reduce the taxes being paid by petty traders.
In an interview with journalists in Lagos, Chairman of the association, Mr Eze Ubiji, said that petty traders find it difficult to pay taxes since their businesses had been weakened by poor infrastructure.
According to him, payment of tax is a civic responsibility, but most  businesses  especially the small ones, are groaning under unfavourable business environment.
“Tax payment is adversely affecting the businesses. We need to wait until there is a visible improvement in basic infrastructure and economy before petty traders can pay tax”, he said.
He told journalists that it was a challenge for petty traders to pay tax, as many of them did not even have shops to operate from.
“The hiccups faced by small scale enterprises have been worsened because most of them are yet to get the intervention funds promised by the government.
“Capturing them for tax payment will only deplete the impact we want to see in the empowerment  of the poor through the SMEs. It is the responsibility of every citizen to pay tax, but the Federal Government should urgently  upgrade the country’s infrastructure”, he said.
He also urged the Federal and State Inland Revenue Services to implement more of their plans to improve the business environment, so that those who are finding their feet in small scale business could be encouraged to continue.