Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun has disclosed the federal government has no plans to increase tax rates.
Edun made the disclosure on Monday during an interactive session with members of the House of Representatives committee on appropriation.
The Minister said the government’s target is to improve collection efficiency to get more people into the tax net.
“I would say there is no plan for the increase in the tax rates as such. The plan is to increase the revenue from taxation,” Edun said.
He went further to say: “The plan is to increase taxation returns — tax revenue as a percentage of GDP from around nine percent as it is now within three years to 18 percent which is closer to the African average.
“In a government that is dependent on foreign direct investment, including domestic investment is dependent on private sector investment to grow the economy, create jobs and reduce poverty.
“The intention would be where possible, to reduce taxes to allow people to have more money to invest in job creation and production. I think it is very important to make that clear.
“So, the emphasis is on collection, it is not on increasing the tax rate. It is increasing the efficiency of tax administration, particularly collection”.
Edun stressed low taxation attracts investment, allowing people to have more money to inject in job creation.