THE PLIGHT OF BUSINESS OWNERS WISHING TO ADVERTISE THEIR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES UNDER THE LAW

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.”