The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, (CPPE) has called for the suspension of the recently introduced cybersecurity levy and stakeholder deliberation on it.
Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, in reaction to the new policy, said the levy, in its present form, will cause hardship on citizens and a burden on investors.
He said the new levy and other numerous taxes imposed by the federal, state, and local governments in Nigeria are impeding the capacity of businesses to drive economic growth, leading to job losses and inflation across the country.
According to him, businesses and investors are already saddled with numerous taxes ranging from education tax, value added tax (VAT), company income tax (CIT), stamp duty, NITDA, Police Trust Fund, among others, coupled with NYSC levy and tertiary health levy that are still in the pipeline.
Yusuf pointed out that the new levy contradicts the position of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which aims to streamline taxes for a better business environment.
He queried the proposed amount to be generated from the levy using the percentage of transactions to be deducted and the total value of e-payment transactions in 2023 as per the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), saying that e-payment transactions amounted to N600 trillion in 2023 and 0.5 per cent of that figure is N3 trillion, which is more than the budget for infrastructure in the 2024 Appropriations Act.
He also warned that such levies negate the cashless policy drive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and might push people into cash-based transactions.
