A coalition of civil society groups in Rivers State has raised the alarm over the various levies and rates imposed on traders and markets in the state.
The group said a majority of the traders on the receiving end were women, most of whom struggle to train their children, and therefore concluded that such forms of subtle extortion must stop.
The coalition under the aegis of ‘Tax Justice and Governance Platform’, with funding from Oxfam stated this during a town hall meeting with the National Association of Nigeria Traders in Port Harcourt on Friday.
The meeting also included sensitisation training on the benefits of tax payments and tax compliance for traders in the state.
Speaking, the coordinator, Rivers State Tax Justice and Governance Platform, Mr Amaechi Kelechi, decried the challenges of multiple taxations in the informal sector.
Kelechi expressed dismay that markets in the state lack basic facilities, in spite of the multiple layers of taxes on the traders, which according to him were called rates or levies.
He advised on the need to create a more inclusive, participatory, transparent and accountable resource governance in the state, saying citizens must see what their taxes are being used for.
He stressed, “There are also issues of using excessive force in collecting these taxes from the traders, which gives rise to gender-based violence since most traders are women.
“Market levies are imposed on the traders by the government. That means their fundamental rights of freedom of association are infringed upon.
“So, we are building their skills in advocacy strategy, communication and organising them to engage with state actors to achieve best results,” Kelechi remarked.
Continuing, he explained that, “in terms of tax to the service agreement, a certain percentage of the rates, levies and taxes paid by traders should be used to address the specific needs of the people.
“Areas such as sanitary facilities, loading bays, storage space, car parks, and so on should be looked into,” he added.
Also speaking, the chairperson of the Society of Women in Taxation, Dr Eunice Odum observed that several levies were usually collected from traders which do not represent taxes; this, she said was the essence of the training.
“There are lots of levies in the market which do not represent government tax and are not remitted to the government.
“And so, when it comes to the benefits of tax, they (traders) do not get it because they have no tax clearance certificates which are given to those who pay tax to the government, and so the tax authorities do not have their details, their tax returns or anything that makes them tax compliant citizens.
“The tax that is attributable to traders is not much and it’s about 1 per cent per annum, which in some cases is not more than N5,000 per annum.
“But it must be paid to the right agency and tax clearance certificates issued because those certificates can be used to access loans and other facilities,” she informed.
Earlier, the Rivers State chairman, National Association of Nigerian Traders, Mr Daniel Iheme, urged the state government to intervene in the provision of car parks and maintenance of markets in the state.
He noted, “If you enter inside the market, you will see some things that the government are supposed to do but not done.
“There are no parks in the market. There are no toilets. Some of the roofs are falling off, most of the floors are broken and yet to be fixed.
“But we pay yearly maintenance fees to the government. It’s only the traders who use their money to fix it.
“We want the state government to intervene in the provision of car parks and maintenance of markets in Rivers state,” Iheme requested.
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