The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has commended the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS) for its efforts at sensitizing the public particularly those in the manufacturing industry on the introduction of haulage collection from members of MAN via the revenue scratch card.
Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Edo/Delta Branch, Dr. Alofoje Unuigboje, who led members of the association to a stakeholders meeting with management of the EIRS, commended the Revenue Service for making MAN better informed of what their responsibilities as stakeholders are, describing the stakeholders’ engagement as transparent, open, interactive and business like.
“It was transparent, open and business like. The EIRS laid down its position as honestly as it could. Those who are impacted by what is required also interacted and interrogated the EIRS’ position. In that interaction, everyone came out of the meeting much better. The industrialist now know what their responsibilities are, they also know who precisely is collecting what. And that the window is now open for constant dialogue, so that problems which are realized are nipped in the bud in other to make the revenue collection template an enviable and viable one”.
He said further “that members of man are not adverse to payment of taxes and having been informed with respect to the process, the EIRS should be rest assured of the association’s efforts of ensuring members’ compliance with the authenticity of the haulage collection.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman, Igbinidu Inneh, said the haulage fee which is one of the revenue streams that the State are allowed to collect, have always existed and backed by Law.
He stated that the revenue Service had made some adjustment to the mode of collection on haulage fees by introducing technology to the collection process in other to ease transaction in an accountable and transparent manner between taxpayers and government.
Also speaking, the Executive Director, Income Tax, Charity Aimanyanevbo, informed that the Taxes and Levies (Approved List of Collection) Act 2015 as amended and signed into effect by the then Co-coordinating Minister for the Economy, and Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, gave the legal basis for the collection of haulage fees, noting that the law was meant to check certain excesses such as harmonizing into one single payment, the multiplicity of collection by both States and Local Governments.
He said accountability, which is one of the Revenue Service’s core values, has been entrenched into the mobile collection system by creating the dealership scheme which entails issuance of revenue scratch cards to accredited dealers who sells same to end users (taxpayers) before they are finally processed with a Point of Sales (PoS) device by the revenue collector who issues receipt.
Mr. Aimanyaenvbo hinted that the revenue scratch card has a face value that is based on the tonnage of the vehicle, and has equally accommodated the personal income tax of the driver, haulage fees, local government gate fees, as well as union dues of affected association adding that the EIRS has put in place, measures to avoid double taxing the personal income tax of haulage truck drivers, daily, weekly and monthly payment plans as well as ensure effective, quality service delivery to all stakeholders.