President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms in line with his promise to remove barriers to business growth.

The committee would be chaired by Taiwo Oyedele, Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

This is contained in a statement by Dele Alake, the presidential spokesperson, in Abuja on Friday.

The committee comprises experts from private and public sectors and has responsibility for tax law reform, fiscal policy design and coordination, harmonisation of taxes, and revenue administration.

Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Adelabu Adedeji, explained that Mr Tinubu recognises the importance of a sound fiscal policy environment and an effective taxation system for the government and the economy.

”Nigeria ranks very low on the global ease of paying taxes while the country’s Tax to GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world and well below the African average,” said Mr Adedeji.

He said this resulted in borrowings to finance public spending, thereby limiting the fiscal space.

“This has resulted in a vicious cycle of inadequate funding for socio-economic development.

”While some incremental progress has been recorded over the years, the outcomes have not been transformative enough to change the narrative,” he said.

Mr Adedeji outlined the key challenges in Nigeria’s tax system: multiple taxes and revenue collection agencies, a fragmented and complex tax system, and low tax morale.

He said others were the high prevalence of tax evasion, high cost of revenue administration, lack of coordination between fiscal and economic policies, and poor accountability in the utilisation of tax revenue.

”Our aim is to transform the tax system to support sustainable development and achieve a minimum of 18 per cent tax to GDP ratio within the next three years without stifling investment or economic growth,” Mr Adedeji said.

He added, ”It should be noted that this committee will not only advise the government on necessary reforms but will also drive the implementation of such recommendations in support of the comprehensive fiscal policy and tax reform agenda of the current administration.”

The committee chairman, Mr Oyedele, chairs the Taxation and Fiscal Policy Faculty Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and is a member of the Nigerian Taxation Standards Board.

(NAN)