Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu has called for the restructuring of government regulations and taxation to support business growth in Nigeria.
He made the call at the Lagos Business School Alumni Association 2017 Conference held in Lagos.
Elumelu, who was guest speaker at the occasion, spoke on the conference theme: “The Effects of Multiple Government Regulations and Taxation on Business Growth in Nigeria”, emphasized the need for government to embark on radical approach that would shape behaviours of entrepreneurs and business owners towards payment of taxes in a more obligatory manner.
According to Elumelu, who is also Chairman of UBA Group and Transcorp Plc, “Multiple regulations hinder business growth and we need to regulate our tax laws and practices in a manner that would create enabling environments for businesses, particularly start-ups and SMEs to thrive in the economy. If taxes are well regulated for businesses, there would be increase in government revenue, more businesses would grow, thereby helping to curb unemployment and improving the economy significantly.”
In his presentation of the Economic Outlook for 2018, Dr. Biodun Adedipe, Founder/Chief Consultant of B. Adedipe Associates, said that Nigeria should deviate from operating a mono-cultural economy which has proved detrimental to its growth.
Hamzat Ayodele Subair, Chairman of Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, who was represented by Tokunbo Akande, revealed that before now, the lack of viable data on financial record had hampered the process of effective tax systems in the state, and the rest of Nigeria. He however assured that the Lagos State He said: Government, through its Internal Revenue Service, is working hard to harmonise its tax practices by creating a single billing system where each tax payer would have a complete list of his or her tax schedule to avoid multiplicity of tax systems and agents.