By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has advised the Abuja Municipal Area Councils (AMAC) and other government bodies against alleged plan to impose N100,00.00 tax or levy on bakery and other businesses in Abuja.
In a statement issued in Abuja by the ACCI President, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar, the Chamber called the attention of the FCT Area Councils to the current high inflation rate. It reiterated that imposing generator and equipment taxes on businesses will further increase the cost of doing business.
The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) was said to have imposed a fee of N100,000 on bakery operators within the council as a permit for “gaseous emission”.
But while urging the councils to explore other means of raising revenue such as public-private partnership, among others, the Chamber reminded the councils that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration had previously restated his desired to harmonize taxation and tax administration within the FCT as a way of incentivizing businesses and boosting economic activities in the FCT.
“Imposition of new taxes like the generator and equipment taxes will not only be additional burden to be borne by business owners, it will accelerate the collapse of more businesses, deepen unemployment and further hike inflation rate in the country. This is clearly not in the best interest of government and people of the country”, the statement noted.
The statement which was made available by ACCI Media Officer, Olayemi John- Mensah on Thursday, recalled that participants at ACCI webinar to mark the World MSME Day had unanimously advocated for harmonization of SME taxation, warning that targeting bakery and other businesses for generator and equipment taxes is insensitive and a threat to food and national security.
ACCI President, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar
“We already wrote a letter to Mr President and other relevant authorities calling for harmonization of taxes for SMEs. This is the best way to stop the high rate of business failure, create jobs and boost the GDP, as over 90 percent of Nigerian businesses are SMEs.
“Bakery businesses across the country are under serious operational challenges due to high cost of raw materials, epileptic power supply and high cost of logistics which have necessitated the steady increase of prices of bread. Consequently, many bakeries have shut down operations.
“We call on the leadership of Abuja Municipal Area Councils as well as other government agencies to suspend the planned imposition of generator and equipment taxes, as this is inconsistent with the Federal Government’s programmes to create attractive business climate for business owners”.
It was gathered that Ahmed Haruna, the AMAC director of public health, in a letter addressed to the bakery owners, said the levy is for discharge of harmful hazardous substances into the air, water and land.
“The management of Abuja Municipal Area Council Environment Services Department (ESD) Bodies, wishes to notify you of levy/fees due to Abuja Area Council for Gaseous Emission Permit Limit,” the letter stated.
“This includes the discharge of harmful hazardous substances into the air or the land and water in Nigeria by the activities of industries, warehouses, bank, either from generators or heavy-duty, drilling, production, construction and manufacturing equipment, filling stations, etc.
“This is in line with the provision of Section (2C) of the fourth schedule of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended under the function of the Local Government Authority and Federal Environmental Protection Agency Act (FEPA) part (iii) section 25 which establish the Local Council Authority to regulate, enforce and collection of levies for the interest of public health importance (welfare) section (18), (20), (21), (26) and 27 and other relevant laws of National Environmental Health Practice Regulation 2016 which confers on the council the power to regulate, inspect, control and collection of levies/fees.”
According to him, failure to comply with the directive is a “punishable offence”, and could lead to the arrest of the operator and suspension of the bakery’s activities.
