Stop Using Tout To Collect Tax, CITN Cautions Govt

The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria has charged the three tiers of government to stop non-state actors from collecting taxes in the country.

CITN’s President/Chairman of Council, Samuel Agbeluyi, gave the charge while speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of the CITN Abuja Liaison Office in the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday.

He said that was part of the recommendation arrived at during the just concluded weeklong conference of the institute, adding that a communiqué would be sent to the government.

“We discussed the collection of taxes by non-state actors during our conference. So, we are not just going to present our communiqué to only the Federal Ministry of Finance. We are also sending it to the National Security Adviser.

“This is because the roles of the non-state actors have some security aspects that the finance ministry and FIRS cannot handle. So, we are going to send our communiqué to various stakeholders for implementation.

It is not correct to say that the government doesn’t listen. The government at various levels, either the national or sub-national level, listens to advice. We have experienced it in the past and we are sure that this time they are going to listen,” Agbeluyi stated.

Asked to specifically state whether the recommendation of CITN was for the government to stop non-state actors from collecting taxes, he replied, “There is no alternative than to stop them.