Katsina, Joint Tax Board Partner to End Illegal Taxation

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Joint Tax Board (JTB) and the Katsina State Internal Revenue Service have sensitised stakeholders in tax collection on Single Inter-state Road Tax Sticker (SIRTS) and Single Haulage Fee (SHF) in a bid to end illegal and multiple taxation in the state.

The sensitisation and engagement programme organised by the JTB in collaboration with the state board of internal revenue, drew many participants from business associations and unions from across the state.

Addressing the participants, the JTB Executive Secretary, Hajiya Obomeghie Nana-Aisha, said the aim was to end Illegal tax collection, extortion on the highways and block revenue leakages in the country.

She said: “It is a single sticker that if you buy it at N3,500 in one state, it can be used across all the 36 states including the FCT and nobody will harass you anywhere you go. In order to make sure that everybody benefits from that N3,500, there is a portion of it that belongs to internal revenue service, the vendor and the consultant.”

The JTB executive secretary explained that the initiative, which is being implemented by the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) internal revenue service under the aegis of the Joint Tax Board, would reduce incidences of double taxation via the sales of multiple emblems and stickers.

Nana-Aisha noted that the SIRTS and SHF would also sustain harmony, uniformity and coherence of road tax administration nationwide, restoration of the integrity of the road tax collection process and ensure that road tax collections were remitted appropriately to government coffers.

While noting that the nation’s legislation placed road taxes administrationon on state governments, Nana-Aisha said encroachment by non-state government actors had made the administration incoherent, disorganised and an avenue for indiscriminate collections to take place.

According to her, “As we are all aware, the incidences of multiple taxation, harassment and extortion have been commonplace on the nation’s highways for years, and this has had negative ripple effects.

“We will ensure the elimination of illegal roadblocks in the nation’s transportation corridors, economic empowerment via job creation for prospective vendors and agents.”

Earlier, the Executive Chairman, Katsina State Internal Revenue Service, Mustapha Muhammad-Surajo, told the participants that the sensitisation was to rub minds to see how they could harmonise the tax collection in the state.

He urged the participants to pay attention and take the exercise with kin interest because they were important to the success of the programme by reaching to the yearnings of taxpayers.