Business
Stakeholders Brainstorm On Tax Dispute Resolution
Stakeholders in tax matters converged on Abuja on Monday to seek for new ways to enhance tax dispute resolutions in the country.
The two-day conference, organised by the National Institute for Advanced Legal Studies(NIALS) for the Tax Appeal Tribunal and the Nigerian Judiciary has the theme: “Deepening Stakeholder Buy-in and Fast- Tracking Tax Dispute Resolution in Nigeria’’.
Declaring the conference open, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, advised its participants to evolve ways to sensitise and encourage taxpayers and revenue agencies to take advantage of the tax tribunal.
Mukhtar also called on the participants to consider the stakeholder appreciation of the role of the tribubal as a critical component of the Nigerian tax system.
She noted that tax was very crucial in government’s revenue generation, adding that the situation should not be different in Nigeria.
“In other climes, revenues generated from taxation usually constitute the bulk of the state’s revenue. I have no doubt that the same must also be the position in our country.
“It can only be so if every adult/orgnisation is made to pay tax, as properly assessed and as and when due,’’ she said.
The chief justice, who was represented by Justice John Fabiyi, further appealed to the participants to reappraise double taxation in the country to evolve means of addressing it.
“The conference participants should not only consider factors by which revenue for states can be garnered in bulk. The other side of the coin should also be noted accordingly.
“This has to do with incidences of double taxation of individual tax payers and organisations. To my mind, this should be avoided,’’ she noted.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who delivered the key note address, said the tribunal was an integral part of the reforms of the tax system.
Okonjo-Iweala said the tribunal was not to replace the court system in the adjudication of tax disputes, but to build tax payer confidence.
This, she said, was by providing an avenue for tax payers to air their grievances and obtain redress when dissatisfied with the decisions of tax authorities.