The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, says the Federal is making every frantic effort to suffocate Nigerian workers, stressing that if it is possible it would be taxing everyone for the air they breathe.
Head of Information of the NLC, Benson Upah, made this statement on Thursday in an interview on Arise Television monitored by DAILY POST
He was kicking against the new tax system introduced by the Federal Government
“First and foremost, consultative engagement makes for good governance.
Once you have that in deficit, you will have dimensions of disagreements. In this instance, we are saying that we were not consulted before this tax laws were put in place, and yet, we’re the biggest taxpayer community in the country.
“In fact, we did right to government when the committee was being constituted, but we were ignored, and since this became law, no one has taken the initiative to do public enlightenment or to educate our members.
“The implications for them, what we hear on air is that there are benefits, but there are not more than one that people earning below a million are not going to be taxable. But I want to tell you, in the formal sector today, going by the rate of the national minimum wage, no one earns below 1 million, so that does not apply.
“In the past, allowances of workers were not taxed. Now the former allowances of workers are going to be taxed. That is aside from all other tax liabilities that are now introduced. The only thing for now that they may not be taxed for is the oxygen that we take in and the carbon dioxide that they breathe out.
“There is a need for back-channel communication with the government. When taxes are low and collection methods are efficient, more citizens will comply,” he said.
