The 2016 Doing Business report
ranks Nigeria at 181 in the ranking of 189 economies on the ease of paying
taxes. Advertisement tax or levies differs from state to state in Nigeria. Advertisement simply put may
refer to any act done to promote a product or service. Advertisement is
therefore a key ingredient for the success of any commercial venture. However,
advertisement needs some form of regulation and therefore the government has
made laws in that regard.
The Fourth Schedule to the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Amended, at paragraph
1(k)(i) provides for the main functions of a Local Government Council to
include control and regulation of
out-door advertising and hoarding.
Also, the Taxes and Levies
(Approved List for Collection) Decree No 21 of 1998 Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria under Schedule 1 Part II provides that Signboard and Advertisement permit fees are to be collected by the
Local Government. See page A35 of the State Internal Revenue AdministrationLaw of Benue State, 2015 which also list the signboard and advertisement permit
fees to be collected by local governments in the state. On page A115 of the same
law; Establishment of Led Electronic Billboard and Annual Subscription on Led
Electronic Bill Board is also listed as fees/taxes to be collected by the state
Ministry of Science and Technology.
Furthermore, the State Internal
Revenue Administration Law, 2015 on page A114 provides for the collection of
Advertisement Location Approval Fees by the Benue State Urban Development Board.
The Nigerian Urban and Regional
Planning Act No. 88 of 1999(which is encapsulated under CAP N138 of the Laws of
the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 under section 73(1) also provides that the “control department” shall regulate the
dimensions, appearance, display, siting and manner in which an advertisement
board shall be affixed to land.
Subsection 2 of the same Act further provides that no person shall display an
advertisement without the written consent of the control department. By the above
provisions it is the control department established by section 27 of the
National Urban and Regional Planning Act that is empowered to grant approval or regulate outdoor advertisements affixed
to land.
Section 91 which is the
interpretation section of the Act defines “control department” to mean any
agency performing the duties of urban and regional planning and development
control at the Federal, State and local government level. The section further
states that “development” means the carrying out of any building, engineering,
mining or other operations in, on, over or under any land, or the making of any
environmentally significant change in use of any land or demolition of
buildings including the felling of trees and the placing of free-standing erections
used for the display of advertisements on the land and the expression “develop”
with its grammatical variations shall be considered accordingly.
Flowing from the foregoing
provisions of the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Act the Benue State
Urban Development Board (BSUDB) is the control department referred to in
section 91 above since at the state level it is the agency that performs the
duties of urban and regional planning and development control. See section 6 of
the Benue State Urban Development Board Law.
The question then is to whom
should the business owner wishing to advertise his products or services on
signboards or signage pay signboard and advertisement permit fees to? Is it to
the Local Government Council, BSUDB or Ministry for Science & Technology?
If he is to pay the fees to all these government bodies would it not amount to
double or multiple taxation or levies? What
is the difference between advertisement location approval fee and signboard and
advertisement permit fees?
In view of the above it is therefore
suggested that the authorities concerned and stakeholders should work together
to see how these levies and fees can be consolidated in order to avert or
minimise the hardships these scattered and multiple levies and fees are
imposing on business owners who wish to advertise their products and services
on signboards, signage, etc. and improve on the appalling rank of 181 out of
189 occupied by Nigeria in the ranking of 189 economies on the ease of paying
taxes.
If the above suggestion is put in
place it would no doubt be of benefit to the economy as the 2016 Doing Business
report earlier mentioned also states thus:
“Economies around the world have
made paying taxes faster, easier and less costly for businesses—such as by
consolidating payments and filings of taxes,
offering electronic systems for filing and payment, establishing
taxpayer service centers or allowing for more deductions and exemptions. Many
have lowered tax rates. Changes have
brought concrete results.
Some economies simplifying tax
payment and reducing rates have seen tax revenue rise.”
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