Pretty traders should be made to pay tax – Reps member, Fakaye

Carpenters, taxi drivers, rice sellers and indeed, everyone with a means of income should be made to pay tax a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Olufemi Fakeye has said.

Fakeye, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, representing Boluwaduro/Ifedayo/Ila federal constituency of Osun State spoke while commenting on the 2022 budget during a plenary session, Vanguard is reporting.

“I am aware right now and it has been said here that only two quarterly releases have been made now, we are in the last quarter of the year. That makes a joke of all the effort that we put in day in, day out to ensure that the budget is passed on time.

“I pay attention to revenue shortfalls for the government. I recall when I was young, everybody paid taxes. Whether you are a farmer, your daddy was a carpenter, whatever he did for a living, he paid tax.

“We tended to forgive everybody their taxation except those who have an income where the tax is taken out of your income and the rest paid to you.

“I think our tax reform should be such that every Nigerian has a chance to contribute. Go out there and talk to 80 per cent or 90 per cent of the people of Nigeria, a lot of them who are self-employed; they don’t pay tax anymore.

“So when we hear the Federal Inland Revenue Service or tax organisations, or even the tax joint boards are widening the tax net, why do they shy away from finding a way to make people pay — whether you are a carpenter, taxi driver, you are selling rice in the market or not.

“These people make a lot of money but they don’t get to pay anything. So I think that is an area I would like to see revenue-boosting”, he said.