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As 2012, the year of retirement inched closer for Bassey Christopher, a Customs officer, the thought of setting up a pure water business that he can later rely on as a constant source of income occupied his mind.
After painstakingly gathering necessary information about the business, he opened a pure water factory at Iba, in the Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos, and commenced production with just two processing machines.
By 2015, the now lucrative business was expanded to include the production of bottled water.
However, years later, bankruptcy stared Christopher in the face due to the huge amount of taxes he remits annually to various government agencies.
The taxes made it inevitable for him not to obtain bank loans to keep his business afloat and he groaned heavily under accruing high interest rates and mounting debt.
The retired customs officer lamented that a greater percentage of the loans he obtained from banks goes into tax payments to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Lagos State Internal Revenue Service and local government agencies.
He said despite lodging complaints with the state government about similarities in the taxes and their accompanying huge financial burden, nothing changed
A civic duty abused
Globally, the major source of funds to run government organs effectively has always been through revenue generated directly or indirectly through taxes.
Tax itself is a compulsory (which makes its evasion punishable) contribution to state revenue and is levied by the government on salary, business profits, transactions and even on services.
Be that as it may, the appropriateness of coming up with different names for the same tax by federal, state and local government agencies; ministries, among others, despite clear legislation that outlined lists of taxes and levies to be collected by the three tiers of government, has continued to generate debates.
Tax duplication has been highlighted as a significant contributor to the poor ranking of Nigeria on the world ease of doing business index.
Even though there has been a directive to enforce the Taxes and Levies (Approved Rate for Collection) Decree 1998, which specifically spelt out punitive measures for illegal tax collection, the business of multiple taxes still thrives, causing disincentive in the business community.
Multiple taxations jeopardy
A check by PUNCH Investigations on the website of Nigeria's leading integrated market infrastructure in Africa, Nigeria Stock Group, indicated that in 2022, a total of 157 companies were listed.
However, many companies or businesses in Lagos, despite their relevance and growth to the national economy, are adversely affected or have been crippled by multiple taxes.
Good as the intention behind tax might appear, it has been observed that the existing tax system across the country, particularly in Lagos, diminishes returns on investment, affects capital base, and more often, lead to the total collapse of businesses and companies.
Corporate and business taxpayers are often faced with multiplicity and duplication of taxes levied by different levels of government.
While taxation is imposed by the government of a country, the National Tax Policy Document describes its multiplicity as a situation where a particular tax is levied on the same person in respect of the same liability by more than one state or local government.
