Hoteliers in Lagos State have appealed to Governor Akinwumi Ambode to grant them tax relief in order to save their businesses from imminent collapse as a result of the present economic challenges and multiple taxation.
Making the appeal, President, Lagos Hoteliers Association, Aare Tola Odunuga, lamented that multiple taxes by different agencies of government including local governments are having crippling effects on his members’ operations.
“We are calling on his excellency, Governor Akinwumi Ambode, to use his good office to intervene in our case. We want the governor, as a matter of urgency, to help save our businesses from the present economic challenges and imminent collapse by ensuring that all taxes we are paying should be harmonized into one.
The present arrangement where we pay taxes on some items to state and local government, and even at times Federal Government is untidy. We want these taxes to be harmonized into one. We also want to make special appeal to him to reduce Consumption Tax from 5 percent to 2.5 percent,” Odunuga declared.
While saluting Ambode’s management acumen and his realistic approach to governance, the association boss noted that his members pay about 24 different taxes
some of which are overlapping.
“We believe that our members are partners with the government in creating job opportunities but in a situation where we are paying 24 different taxes, this is not only too much but are also capable of sending us out of business. Some of these taxes which are overlapping and which are being collected from our members by the Federal, State, and Local governments include Company Tax, Value Added Tax, Hotel License, Personal Income Tax, Environment Impact Assessment, Parking Permits, Waste Water Killing Request, Land Use Charge, Radio and TV Permit among a host of others. We also appeal to the governor to exempt us from payment of Consumption Tax on Drinks and Foods”, he added.
Expressing the determination of members of the association to cooperate with the governor in his vision to take Lagos to the next level, Odunuga said:
“We are ready to partner with him in his quest to transform Lagos State into Dubai of Africa.”
The hoteliers’ Chairman enjoined the state government to call to order some of the consultants hired to collect taxes from hoteliers and other business operators in the state over their alleged high-handedness and extortion.
He said:
“Some of the consultants have become a bone in the throat of hoteliers. They extort our members at will and, if you refuse to dance to their tune, they will threaten our members with closure of their business premises. At times in order to make money from us, they will tell a member that he is due to pay N800,000 as annual tax to the state government, but that they will reduce it by half, and that he will pay N200,000 to the government coffers, and the other N200,000 goes into their private pockets. Many of the consultants are extortionists, we are tired of them.”
The post Save our businesses from collapse, hoteliers beg Ambode appeared first on Vanguard News.
Originally posted by Adeshola
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