Seek information on taxation, Akinsanya charges Nigerians

Managing Partner, Dox’ix Consult, Mr Niyi Akinsanya, has advised Nigerians to seek information about existing taxes in Nigeria to determine the right tax they are required to pay.

Akinsanya, a tax expert, said during an interview in Abuja on Thursday that many Nigerians were not well informed about taxation and that had made them pay taxes they were not supposed to pay, or to people they were not supposed to pay to.

“Most of us do not even know the taxes that we pay, that is why sensitization is very important.

“You need to find out what taxes you need to pay because if you do not know the taxes that you need to pay, touts and even illegal taxes will come on you and you will pay.

“So you need to, first of all, understand what taxes are there to pay.

He advised Nigerians to seek professional advice about taxes, to know what incentives existed to explore and to also avoid double taxation.

He said that most of the big companies and organisations made use of those incentives which was why many of them appeared not to be paying as much as some others.

“The truth is that most of these big organisations and companies avoid taxes not that they do not pay.

“They pay little taxes because they have good tax planners and consultants who work on their taxes and these people help them save taxes.

“They take advantage of the incentives that are there for you in the tax law, which is why they do not pay as much.’’

Akinsanya said there was a difference between avoidance of tax and tax evasion, adding that many big companies did not evade tax but rather avoided it.

He said that avoiding tax was legal because it involved planning to know where to invest to get incentives.

He added that taking advantage of all available incentives would definitely help small businesses to grow.

Commenting on double and multiple taxations, he said that multiple taxes were allowed but that double taxation was wrong.

He explained that there were different types of taxes for different purposes which culminated into multiple taxes but that double taxation was payment for the same thing.

“For instance, business premises registration can actually be said to be the same thing as shop rate.

“If you have a shop and you pay for shop rate and the Ministry of Commerce also comes to charge you for the same premises that is double taxation.