Tax expert carpets Ayade for creating Cross Rivers State Anti-Tax Agency

 

Tax expert carpets Ayade for creating Cross Rivers State Anti-Tax Agency

By Ori Adeyemo

I professionally believe that the filmed crocodile tears of Prof. Ben Ayade on his recent illegal creation of the “Cross Rivers State Anti-Tax Agency” is totally unwarranted to say the least.

He displayed crass ignorance of relevant provisions of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) of 25/08/1993 (as amended on 14/06/2011).

In the first instance, his purported “Anti-Tax Agency” is in breach said PITA’s  Section 19.3.b., which states that “nothing in this section or the 3rd schedule to this Act shall be construed so as to authorize a State Government, a company or any person or agency of government, a company or any person, whether resident or not in Nigeria to provide tax exemption clauses in an agreement or arrangement without seeking approval first from the Minister of Finance and thereafter from the President.”

In other words, it ultra vires of Prof. Ben Ayade to unilaterally violate the PITA with reckless abandon. He needs to get a concurrence from the Federal Government of Nigeria before setting up his illegal agency, which he never said that he did.

Moving on, I am aware of the provisions of Section 9 of PITA supra concerning the full taxation inter alia exclusion of “the gain or profit of an individual from any land used by him for agricultural purposes or from livestock ….”

Therefore, I am still in awe that said cross rivers state governor illegally wants to exclude said agricultural gains like bananas, pineapples etc. as he said in his sensational Nollywood film from assessable income taxation. I don’t know which law he is basing his arguments on.

Section 33.1 of PITA supra makes provisions for “consolidation relief allowance of N200,000.00 subject to a minimum of 1% of gross income, whichever is higher plus 20% of the gross income and the balance shall be taxable in accordance with the Income table in the 6th Schedule to this Act.”

This is meant to cater for the low income workers as Prof. Ben Ayade wants to support just like me. However, he should act reasonably within the full ambits of the law.

Meanwhile, Section 45 of PITA states that “a person who files a return under sections 41 and 44 of this Act within the time specified for filing of the return shall, if there is no default in the payment arrangement, be granted a bonus of 1% of the tax payable.” a further relief.

Section 43 of 2011 PITA supra requires the filing of no return of income by a person whose source of income in any year of assessment in employment in which he earns N30,000.00 or less from that source another relief for low income families.

I quite agree that Prof. Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers State has the statutory powers to “remit wholly or in part, any tax payable under this Act if satisfied that it is just and equitable so to do” but such shall be done for each concerned individual on the “recommendation of the commissioner responsible for finance acting on the advice of the relevant tax authority” per section 80 of PITA supra. I am not aware that this relates to the blanket authoritarian tax-exemptions by my medical doctor professor.

I can go on and on regarding Prof. Ben Ayade’s crass disdain for the rule of law, which is least expected of a governor who claimed to have so far spent five years in office.

I think that the said governor should listen more to his tax experts and not rely on his intuitions for decision makings.

He may mean well for the Cross Rivers State residents but his illegal anti-tax agency creation is way off the cliff. He has to look for others ways to cushion the effects of COVID-19.

Payment of Personal Income Tax is a compulsory obligation on the part of each taxable adult without an exception.

 

• Chief Adeyemo, a foremost Forensic Accountant, is the Managing Consultant at Forensic Consulting Nigeria