23 June 2009
Lagos — Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Monday signed into law a bill to impose a five percent consumption tax on all goods and services consumed in hotels, restaurants and events centres within the state with an assertion that the new law exempts all those who comply from paying the Sales tax.
According to Governor Fashola who spoke at the Conference Room of the Lagos House, Ikeja, the new law also exempts the operators of traditional and customary eating places popularly called bukas.
He added that the enactment of the law is a response to the complaints of double taxation which recurred during the administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as well as during the Governorship election campaigns in Lagos and the inception of the present administration.
Governor Fashola explained that the new law also seeks to promote and develop some of the good practices that usually take place in some of distant jurisdictions and which people here are ready to always use in comparing the country.
Said he: "We have always decried the relative level of development and compared ourselves with the progress made in other jurisdiction without asking ourselves what prices those jurisdictions have had to pay for the level of their development.
"This law seeks to promote, develop and do some of those things that are done in those other jurisdiction by which standards we are measured. No event place that I got to overseas that do not demand this tax."All patrons of such places have to pay. All those who access hospitality outfits across the world do pay".
Governor Fashola added that during his recent trip to South Africa, he took note of how much he was levied and that it was very substantial.
The Governor, who described the Lagos business environment as one of the most attractive when a comparative analysis of Europe and West Africa is done, added that the highest income tax in Lagos is 25 percent but the same tax is as high as 43percent in some other jurisdictions.
He added that the new tax is a guarantee of good life that allow the Government to perform its role well adding that the beauty of the new law is that people will only pay when they make use of the service.
Said he: "For those in the hospitality sector, it is an opportunity to share in the commonwealth and enable us to ensure a further sustenance of security that will secure the events and help in increasing capacity to deliver on infrastructure like roads and water supply because the event centres cannot be viable if infrastructure is absent".
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
