The Federal Government has commenced the process of sensitisation and mobilisation of the Nigerian populace, in order to collate ideas and perspectives towards fashioning a National Tax Policy that would support the dream of Nigeria becoming one of the top economies by the year 2020.

This was made known last Friday by the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) and Chief Executive of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omogui-Okauru, during a press conference, organised by the sub-technical committee on the National Tax Policy in Abuja.

She revealed that contributions received in form of ideas and perspectives would be collated by the committee and presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) before the end of the year.

Omogui-Okauru further said that the essence of the sensitisation programme, is to enable the committee come with a document that will meet the aspirations of Nigerians, adding that apart from the nationwide sensitisation programme, groups or individuals wishing to submit memoranda to the committee should do so on or before September 30, 2008.

According to her, "tax is critical to good governance, sustainable development, helps people to have a stake in development as well as engendering equity and fairness. It is meant to create an equitable playing field, it gives succor to people, it is meant to uplift and recover, not to kill, not meant to extort".

It would be recalled that the presidential committee on tax policy, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance, was inaugurated in July, 2005, with the following terms of reference: employing taxation as an instrument of diversifying the economy and improving economic development; using taxation to create a system that ensures greater accountability for tax revenue, both on the part of government and revenue authorities; limiting the granting of excessive tax incentives, particularly in the oil and gas sector and creating a modern tax system , which is capable of responding to the dynamics of international socio-economic changes from time to time.