Fakeye Olufemi, a member of the house of representatives, says owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, including carpenters and taxi drivers, should be made to pay tax.
Olufemi, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), representing Boluwaduro/Ifedayo/Ila federal constituency of Osun state, spoke on the floor of the house on Wednesday. Olufemi, who was contributing to the 2022 budget debate during the plenary session, said this will enable the federal government to boost its revenue generation.
“Now we have tended to forgive everybody their taxation except those who have an income where the tax is taken out of your income and the rest paid to you. I think our tax reform should be such that every Nigerian has a chance to contribute. Go out there and talk to 80 percent or 90 percent of the people of Nigeria, a lot of them that are self-employed; they don’t pay tax anymore.
“So when we hear FIRS or tax organisations, even the tax joint board widening the tax net; why do they shy away from finding a way to make people pay — whether you are a carpenter, you are a taxi driver, you are selling rice in the market — these people make a lot of money but they don’t get to pay nothing. So I think that is an area I would like to see revenue-boosting,” his statement read in part.
