zstranger:

I agree.

What do you have in mind? Should it be increased on a sliding scale?

zstranger:

If this is how you will sell it to the people, trust me you wont make any headway. Calling 'owambe' parties, frivolous is insulting, demeaning and culturally insensitive.  What else do you want to tax? Baby showers? office send-offs? Graduation ceremonies? Emotional euphoria?  can you be more specific?

ekt_bear:

Err, whatever happened to free will? Sure, charge more for the policing parties require, but people should be able to do whatever they want with their personal money  Taxing parties sounds fascist, or something

ekt_bear:

Those taxes are too high. I'd move to Kwara or Kogi with that sort of tax system 

Are highly progressive tax systems even good for 3rd world countries? 

What is the basis for the state taking 45% of my cash when it doesn't provide that level of services? At least in Europe and the US, you get good value for your tax money.

That tax setup is fine for 100 years from now, but not for today.

Katsumoto:

A progressive tax; those who earn more, pay more. So you have a ceiling or two; those above a particular ceiling pay a higher rate (35%) and then anything above the top ceiling can also be taxed at a higher rate (40-45%).

e.g
N0 - N800,000 - No Tax
N800,001 - N12,000,000 - 20%
N13,000,001 - N39,000,000 - 34%
Above N40M - 45%

You are not going to announce that you are taxing parties; just put a sales tax on most products and services and have a higher tax for products and services that are associated with parties. So you pay a tax when you call Sunny Ade or rent canopies etc. The local government can also make you pay a local tax to cover cleanup, noise, disturbance, etc

I don't have a problem with Owambe but I do have a problem with people who are unable to provide basic amenities for their kids throwing lavish parties. Fstarnger, dont even deny that happens.

Katsumoto:

I was only giving examples but people have paid too little taxes for so long. They have being complaining about poor infrastructure for so long, if they want better services, then they have to pay. You are the one championing advancement through PPI's; do you think the companies that come down are going to do it for free? The state governments will have to put down some kind of down payments.

If you want growth and development, then you need a progressive tax system now and it must not be complicated. You can move to Kwara but you will not be close to where the businesses, the jobs and the markets are.

ndu_chucks:

I don't mean to burst your bubble guys.The priorities of the people you are hoping will lead you to nirvana, are not quite in line with yours.

The more realistic first order of business is to award contracts to Alpha Beta, in every ACN held state in the southwest. That should increase Tinubu's fortunes to N15billion/month.

I suppose thereafter, those southwestern states will generate enough money to build the infrastructure you all are hoping for.  Its  small price to pay for progress, ko?

ekt_bear:

Right. But you don't need 45% of a rich man's cash to fund it. Even the US didn't start with such a heavily progressive income tax. It started out small then grew gradually. I'm not a fan of high income taxes to begin with, and I doubt that they are a good idea for poor countries.
Progressive tax system is fine, but 45% income tax for that level of salary is not. Especially since the end result will that person seeing 5 or 10% of that amount in real services returned. I'd be willing to pay 25% of my earnings, but not 45%.

Kwara is just an example. . . there are other places in Nigeria (and indeed, the world) that won't charge taxes at a higher rate than Texas, but with only a tiny fraction of the value.

Katsumoto:

What is better for the people?
1. 100% of say N2 Billion (coming from Abuja and stolen by the likes of OGD, Akala, Fayose)
or
2. 90% of N12 BILLION (that increases accountability, GDP, Growth, etc)

I have a problem with Tinubu getting all that money but I ignore if for now for several reasons
1. He needed a war chest to chase out the PDP thieves
2. He has implemented revenue increasing policies in Lagos which made Lagos less dependent on Abuja; for crying out loud, OBJ starved Lagos of funds and Lagos did not crumble
3. Every dog has its day
4. Every day for the thief, one day for the owner.
5. If change inevitably comes from all these, then perhaps one day, all those who have stolen will be prosecuted. It is happening all over the world.

ndu_chucks:

I don't understand your Math up there. The N12billion I spoke of will end up on a monthly basis in Alpha Beta's coffers.

The reasons you itemized above should not be enough to allow you to compromise your integrity thus enabling you to look the other way at what is at best, an unfair distribution of the people's income to Tinubu's treasuries.

Katsumoto:


Were you supporting Buhari because he is simply the best candidate in Nigeria or because he was the best option available to YOU?

ndu_chucks:

I  was obviously supporting Buhari because I thought he was the best option available to me, among the presidential candidates. This is not a presidential election and the Alpha Beta option is not the only one available to the SW states and you people don't have to be held to ransom by Tinubu or anyone else. People like you in your sophistication can put an end to this kind of ra.ping. You have the power to do so, stop rolling over and justifying it at the same time.

ndu_chucks:

I  was obviously supporting Buhari because I thought he was the best option available to me, among the presidential candidates. This is not a presidential election and the Alpha Beta option is not the only one available to the SW states and you people don't have to be held to ransom by Tinubu or anyone else. People like you in your sophistication can put an end to this kind of ra.ping. You have the power to do so, stop rolling over and justifying it at the same time.

Katsumoto:

I get what you are saying but you don't fight all your battles in one day. Firstly, you align with others sharing a common purpose to defeat a common enemy. Afterwards, you re-align with others to defeat other enemies (who may have been comrades before). If and when the people of the SW are tired of Tinubu, they will move away from him. The next couple of years will be crucial and will depend greatly on how Tinubu plays his cards.

ekt_bear:

Wrong place, I'll get a separate thread

A decision to form the commission was taken at a meeting of the national caucus meeting of the ACN in Abuja on May 1.
SWERDCO will perform functions similar to those of Oduduwa Investments Company Limited, a conglomerate that oversees the investments of the old Western Region inherited by all south-west states except Lagos.

However, unlike Oduduwa, a source close to the meeting said SWERDCO would not dabble into investment initiatives that would incur debts for member-states.

Rather, it will focus on stimulating development initiatives for the collective good of the region and its people. According to the source, the meeting which began on May 1 ran into the early hours of May 2, during which the party leaders and governors discussed the need for regional integration that would provoke vast and even development across the region.

He said all the governors elected on the platform of the party and other national members of the party, including its chairman, Chief Bisi Akande and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, attended the meeting.

He said the governors bought into the idea and agreed to work on the establishment of the commission after their inauguration on May 29.

Also in attendance at the meeting was the presidential candidate of the party in the just concluded presidential election, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
At the meeting, Ribadu informed party members of his intention to take up his UN job on anti-corruption in Afghanistan.
He bade the party goodbye and sort their permission to return to his UN job, which he held before returning to the country to run for the presidency.

He expressed satisfaction that the leadership of the party stood by him during the election and thanked them for their support.
Among the foremost tasks to be performed by the commission will be in the area of infrastructure development, including railway and road construction, and agriculture services to increase food production and facilitate the establishment of agro-allied industries.

Others areas will be in the area of commercial and social services such as provision of potable water, specialist hospitals, independent power projects, and ensuring the judicious utilisation of water under the control of the river basin authorities in the region.

THISDAY gathered that an initial position paper on the development initiative was put together by a team comprising some former commissioners in Tinubu’s cabinet, bankers and some Nigerians in Diaspora.