Aijustwanawrite On Taxes In Nigeria...
S piece on Government and Taxation is thought provoking. In an instant you can tell the piece was written by someone on the ground and not a blogger looking in from a faraway location. writes about the arbitrary decisions taken by State and Local government which create bottlenecks for investors in Nigeria. In addition to the taxes which she talked about, I do see how the possibility of a court case in the middle of an investment cycle can astronomically increase risk to investors. I am glad that the judiciary system is at least making an effort to protect the investors. Overall this is a well rounded piece that can be extended to different facets of our national polity. An attempt is madeat taking a swipe at the complicated challenges facing investors in Nigeria. This reaffirms my believe that without responsible institutions all economic growth and structural improvements will remain unsustainable in the long run. In Nigeria institutions are centered around individuals, it ought to be the other way around. Sometimes the victim tries to fight back, as is the case with the 1004 redevelopment in Victoria Island. The developers got cash upfront for the project to the tune of N25 million per flat (some flats went for N27 million). I think the developers spent N7 billion acquiring the property from the Federal Government (about N7 million per flat). They will probably spend another N7 to N10 billion refurbishing each flat. The state government can do the math as well as anyone else and has decided that N8 billion is too much for the developers to book as profit. The state government as determined that planning permission was not granted for reconstruction of the estates, and has slapped the developers with N3.4 billion in fees and levies. The developers have taken the matter to court, and from what I have heard will probably win.
8Comment(s):
that is a great post. funny taxes were on my mind too since yesterday i read this report:
http://www.doingbusiness.org/features/taxes2008.aspx
my country ranks in the bottom three.
not because we have the worst ranks on earth but because of the number of payments and amount of paperwork taxation entails.
Now I am looking forward to your take on the issue Random African. How have you been.
I will be back to leave my commennt. I'd like to read the full article first.
yo...i have been having the hardest time getting on your page...weird...going to read article...
Wow..did not know that @guer... I am clueless. Thanks for coming by and taking the pain...
The other side of the story is that in this particular case, the tax collector (Lagos State) with a SAN as governor has sans regards for law and due process. Indeed, Fashola tends to take it personal when you demad for lawful rights.
Right now, he's engaging in an all round battle against UACN and its businesses via the route of taxes and levies.It's not just UAC Properties that was attacked. Mr.Bigg's signages have all been removed by LASA (The new signages agency in the state.)
All because UAC took the state to court to challenge its illegal actions.
San has sans regards for the rule of law...Kibatii you have come again. How body?
what gets me is the way public office holder in Nigeria take everything personal its either a matter of respect or disrepect,..ugh..
also there is carefree attitude towards the possible snowball effects of government actions. If you take all the sign of a fast food joint down, how encouraging will that be to investors that have been primed to pull the trigger...?
i'm flattered. I'm sorry to say i don't have much of a take on the subject.
I mean yeah that's odious and predatory taxation (especially the narrow targeted levies) especially when we all know the spending side is a disaster too.
but what can be done ?
lobbying from businesses ? outlawing predatory taxation at the federal level (as part of the bill of rights) ? more publishing of the state budgets practicises ?
i don't know if it can blamed on states as entities though. after all i've heard that Cross River or Kwara pretty much got their budget together (on both sides). why isn't that studied/publicized ?