The federal government has been charged to bolster its relationship with the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), with regards to tax matters.
Stakeholders who made this call at CITN 40th Anniversary Dinner in Lagos recently, held that such was necessary to enhance economic growth and development.
Speaking at the function, Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki stressed the role of CITN as a major influence in taxation practice and the need for all stakeholders including the government to join force with the institute.
Obaseki who was represented by the Chairman TaxForce on Internally Generated Revenue, Edo State, John Inegbedio tasked the institute to focus more on coordinating, energising and educating general public on taxation, being their civic responsibility.
“40 years is a unique achievement for the institute and is worth celebrating, especially now that taxation has become the national discourse as we all can see now that the oil revenue can no longer sustain the country.
“It is thus important that the institute provide the needed information to the public on what form of tax to pay, the way the tax should be collected, the rights of taxpayers and the rights of various governments that collect tax.”
On her part, a Founding member of CITN, Mrs Morenike Babington-Ashaye urged government to take full advantage of CITN’s presence in the country, rather than relying on external bodies to handle issues relating to budgetary and taxation.
She enthused that CITN was well positioned to carry out extensive research concerning all expenditures, finance bills and budget finances before its execution.
“We are grateful to all who have contributed to the success of the institute in 40 years, those who have worked, those still working and those to work in future. But, we still need to do more.
”At the moment, government still spend a lot of money on invisible activities, hiring foreign bodies like International Monetary Fund IMF) or World Bank to come to our aid on issues of taxation/budget, whereas the CITN is here.”
Earlier, President of CITN, Adesina Adedayo expressed optimism on the future of the institute to expand frontiers for taxation development far beyond local impact.
