Mohammed Shosanya,Lagos
A non- governmental group,CAFSO-WRAG for Development,has advocated the need for decrease reliance on consumption taxes, multiple value added taxes and other types of tax dispositives which place an unfair burden on Nigerian women.
Dr Tola Winjobi,Principal Coordinator,CAFSO-WRAG for Development,gave the suggestion in a statement to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.
He advised government to desist from churning out anti-masses monetary policies like recent comatose Naira re-designing policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria,which affected informal sector and market women and throwing them into further poverty.
He urged the federal government to ensure that tax revenues are used to finance gender-transformative public services that recognise, represent, reduce and redistribute women’s unequal share of underpaid and unpaid care and domestic work, in ways that reclaim the public nature of public services and restore the duty and primary responsibility of the government to provide public care services, with rewarded public care workers.
The government,he said,should remove harmful gender bias and discrimination in the design and implementation of tax policies and systems, ensuring that tax revenues are raised in ways that reduce gender inequality, redistribute wealth and promote women’s autonomy, representation and their rights, especially socio-economic rights.
According to him,government must Improve growth of national tax systems by urgently introducing and expanding the scope of wealth taxes, particularly by adopting inheritance, donations, successions, capital gains and unrealized capital gains taxes, as well as increasing top rates on income and corporate taxes.
He added that government should review, adopt and maintain macro-economic policies and development strategies that address the needs and efforts of women in poverty since majority of women are suffering from multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria.
Government should also remove harmful gender bias and discrimination in the design and implementation of tax policies and systems, ensuring that tax revenues are raised in ways that reduce gender inequality, redistribute wealth and promote women’s autonomy, representation and their rights, especially socio-economic rights,he said.
He urged government to take appropriate measures to combat illicit financial flows, including those resulting from tax avoidance and tax evasion, through the establishment of beneficial ownership registers, comprising those of the digital economy.
He also emphasized the need to Improve transparency, accountability, and assessment in tax process and ensuring effective use of tax benefits in ways that promote gender equity and advance women’s rights.
He advised government to promote progressive tax system for all and placing more taxes on moneybags, politically exposed persons and on inexplicable income sources.
Government should further promote, uphold and protect the human rights of women by fully supporting and campaigning for all human rights instruments especially the Convention on the elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Beijing Platform for Action.
“CAFSO-WRAG for Development celebrates with women folks around the world as the world marks the International Women’s Day. We co-celebrate the clarion call to educate the society on the remarkable and indelible impacts of women which cut across their social, cultural, economic and political endeavors.
“Bearing in mind #EmbraceEquity the campaign theme for this year’s IWD, we also celebrate with the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ) and Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) in their annual Global Days of Action (GDOA) on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights with various banners including “Tax The Rich, Women Demand: Wealth Taxes Now!” , and *“Feminists for Wealth Taxes Now!”
