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INCREASED TAX: Group raises the alarm over job losses

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Worried by the effects of the Federal Government’s proposed upward review of the taxes paid on locally produced alcoholic drinks and tobacco products, a coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) has called on the National Assembly to intervene.

The coalition, comprising of Business Renaissance Group (BRG) and Sustained Development Collective (SDC), made the call Thursday during a peaceful protest its members staged at the assembly complex in Abuja.

The group urged the lawmakers to help in reversing the planned increase in the excise duty, saying it would undermine the performance of companies producing the products thereby leading to loss of jobs in the sector.

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Mazi Omife Omife, President of BRG, called on the Ministry of Finance to reconsider its plan, adding that failure to do so would worsen the country’s security situation.

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“If it is executed, it will lead to job losses and thereby aggaravate the security situation in the country,” he said.

Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, had in March announced Federal Government’s plan to increase the excise duty on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products from June 4, 2018.

According to Adesoun, the new excise duty was meant to achieve a dual benefit of raising the government’s fiscal revenues and reducing the health hazards associated with tobacco related diseases and alcohol abuse.

However, the development has received diverse criticisms from stakeholders in the manufacturing sector.

Among the stakeholders was the President of the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), Patrick Anegbe, who urged the government to reduce the policy to a tolerable level so that the industry can survive, retain jobs as well as investors in the country.

By Oluwasegun Olakoyenikan….

 

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