Abuja, March 3, 2015 (NAN) Some hotels and garden owners in the Federal Capital Territory have expressed their displeasure with Monday’s directive of the FCT Administration (FCTA) aimed at imposing five per cent tax on their operations.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FCTA announced it will impose five per cent tax on all entertainment outfits in the FCT to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N10 billion annually.
The hotel, garden and event centres owners, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesdays, described the directive as being capable of grounding their businesses in the FCT.
They told NAN that the pronouncement was another way that the administration further wanted to burden them like they had done before with the multiple taxation collected by various agencies it created to manage its IGR.
The Manager of Excel Suit in Garki 2 in Abuja, Mr Paul Abu appealed to the FCTA to carry out the programme with a human face because the sector had also contributed to reduction in the unemployment status of the country.
“I call on the minister to consider the plights of hotel owners in Abuja, we spend a lot on generating power with our generators and pay different bills too as hotel, now with another tax, if we cannot stay in business because of taxes, it will be too bad on the side of government.
“Another angle they should look at is the area of employment generation, we have used some of these hotels and parks to create employment for Nigerians, if we have to start paying the new tax, we will be left with no option than to reduce our staff population,”
Another Hotel Manager of Heroes Hotel, Utako in Abuja, Mr Emmanuel Eze said that the administration should consider the heat the directive would generate and reverse it with a view of maintaining the status quo.
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“We already have enough problems created by FCT administration on ground with double taxation, some times three different bodies will come from Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) for the same revenue. If you ask questions they will tell you they are consultants with the council.”
“Because of Electricity problems to run an hotel is difficult, in a week we spend N70, 000 to N80,000 to buy fuel depending on the light situation.”
The owner of executive garden in Area 3, Abuja, who pleaded anonymity, appealed to the administration to allow garden owners to continue with the present tax regime, noting that they already had other taxation problems to battle with.
“We are calling on the government to look at another sector in the city for improved revenue. As for the garden and hotels in the city, we are already contributing our quota to the development of the FCT,” she said.
However, some residents of FCT have said that the administration should first take care of some infrastructures before introducing more taxes so that entertainment sector will not be crippled in the city.(NAN)
