Association seeks tax waiver for manufacturing sector

CONSTANCE Shareholders Association of Nigeria (CSAN) on Monday urged the Federal Government to grant tax waiver to manufacturers to enhance the performance of the manufacturing sector.

The National President of the association, Shehu Mikail, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He urged the government to reduce income tax paid by big enterprises from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.

He noted that the tax burden on some of the companies contributed to their dismal performance and subsequent delisting from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Mikail said the tax waiver was imperative due to the nation’s prevailing economic situation and infrastructure deficit that were threatening many sectors of the economy.

He noted that tax waiver was an acceptable international best practice that Nigeria could key into, especially for consumable goods, to shore up performance and boost economic growth.

“When tax rates are reduced, the government also benefits from it because more money is ploughed back into the economy for reinvestment and expansion.

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“It will also encourage the companies to give incentives in the form of price cuts to the end users of their products, thereby reducing the concerns of high cost of goods in the markets,” he said.

According to him, granting tax waiver will allow more companies to stay afloat, create more jobs, reposition themselves to take giant strides in the supply process and export expansion.

“It will also attract more foreign companies to Nigeria; in the long run, the economy will benefit immensely from the tax waivers because the GDP contribution of manufacturing sector will improve significantly,” he said.

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Mikail said the tax waiver would also boost competitiveness and position the real sector to benefit from the various trade agreements and opportunities in the country.