Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun has said the Federal Government will begin taxing luxury goods soon.

Adeosun said this at the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC on Sunday.

Background:

• Adeosun had announced that the Federal Government had signed a policy to tax first class and business class air tickets.

What Adeosun said:

• She said people with higher income must bear a greater part of the tax burden.

“The luxury tax planned by the federal government is being finalised now because it cuts across the ECOWAS. There is a legal process you must go through, including the customs union to actually vary the specific taxes,” she said.

“The problem we have in the country is not just that the system needs to be overhauled, it is also that people are not complying and this is because there is no consequence. We have just started with Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) as a measure to tackle that and the response is impressive.

“In any tax system, the burden must be borne by anybody whose income allows to bear it, so those with higher income should by definition, bear a greater part of the burden.”

“In fact, people have started declaring and I have had a number of approaches from high net worth people asking me to speak on their behalf to state governors to allow them time to comply because their personal taxes are payable to state governments,” she said.

“I have encouraged every governor that everyone who comes to declare should be given enough time to pay up. This is because the amount of tax that they would have to pay is big.

“Whether taxing the rich will increase public revenue or not, it is all about public revenue to which they are obligated for public services.

“The problem currently is that those at the lower level are the ones paying. If the man in the traffic control, with little income will pay at source, why should we not pursue the billionaire or the trillionaire to pay out of the income? We need to change the mindset in the country with regards to tax system.”

Azeez