All taxes administered by the three tiers of government are to be harmonized in in order to incentivize compliance and increase tax revenue.
The Chairman of the Joint Tax Board (JTB), Mr. Muhammad Nami, disclosed this at a meeting with Chairmen of States Internal Revenue Boards, in Abuja, Monday.
With the theme for the meeting, “Harmonization and codification of taxes at the National and Sub-national levels: Key to achieving a tax friendly environment in Nigeria”, Nami said his team was moving from the level of discussion to practicalising the much-needed tax harmonization in the country.
According to him President Bola Tinubu was determined to ensure necessary steps were taken to encourage more Nigerians to comply with their tax obligations, which has been identified as panacea to raising tax revenue.
He said, “we have moved from just talking about harmonizing the various taxes.  We are now at the level of actual harmonization.   President Tinubu is very serious about addressing the problem of multiplicity of taxes.
“I have addressed the State Governors at the National Economic Council and we have all agreed that it better to harmonise the taxes, have fewer taxes and effective collect them through encouraging tax payers to comply.
“As the new administrations attempt to address the many socioeconomic challenges facing the nation on many fronts, it becomes imperative for all the levels of State to shake-off any lethargic antecedents and focus on the goal of a national resurgence.
“The unique and privileged offices we occupy as drivers of the nation’s tax administration processes presents us with a rare opportunity to take hard, but necessary decisions that are expected to yield long term benefits and add immense value to our collective prosperity as a nation.
“In recent years, especially since the dawn of our current democratic dispensation, the importance of taxation has continued to be reiterated and reinforced by all, and the critical role that tax-revenue plays in funding government and governance cannot be over-emphasized”.
Nami, who is also the Chairman of the Federal Inland revenue Service (FIRS), said the organization would protect small businesses, while making sure that informal sector operators were brought into the tax net.
He was specific that business with less than N25 million turnover were tax exempt.
Earlier, the Chairman, Presidential Fiscal Policy & Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyeleye, stressed the need to drastically reduce the number of taxes imposed on members of the Nigeria public and businesses in the country.
He noted that multiple taxation was causing low tax morale in the country, as well as discouraging investments, while creating room for corruption and making doing business difficult.
“Many MDA (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) Specialicised Purpose vehicles are set up and allowed to collect taxes and taxes are building up every day.
“Last year alone, there were four new taxes.  My team did a study and found out that there were 44 Bill in the works at the National Assembly with various types of taxes”, he said.