Private school proprietors in Edo state Monday decried what they described as alarming increase in Personal Income Taxes (PIT), said to have been imposed by the state government.
The school owners on the platform of Coalition of Associations of Private Schools (CAPS) said the new government policy of using N30,000 to N35,000 per student to compute taxes, is punitive and economically damaging to the education sector.
They cautioned that over 300,000 teachers risk losing their jobs, in addition to hundreds of vendors and service providers who depend on schools for survival if the policy is not reversed.
The proprietors who stated this in Benin City, during a peaceful protest said, “Whereas there are schools charging below the amount the government is fixing, the issue of tax ought to be calculated on profit and not the entire income, without minding other expenses incurred,” the proprietors stated.
Chairman of the coalition, Dr Ohis-Olakhe Emmanuel, led members on the protest to the premises of the Ministry of Education to register their grievances.
The coalition includes Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Association of Formidable Education Development (AFED), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and Association of Model Islamic Model Schools.
Dr. Emmanuel said: “We have exhausted all channels of dialogue with no result. The development prompted the need for this protest.
“We state here today that private schools are not only complementing government efforts in the education sector, but we are also significant employers of labour.”.
The Coalition chair called on the state government to reverse the policy to 200 to 4,000 percent increase in tax rates on school proprietors.
Also, the secretary of AFED, Oladele Ogundele, called for a uniformed tax system for school owners, noting that multiple layers of taxation by various government agencies were disturbing.
He added that arbitrary taxation of schools is not in line with the Nigerian constitution and the Universal Basic Education Act which clearly stated free and compulsory education.
The Edo state Commissioner for Education, Mr Paddy Iyamu, who addressed the coalition after a brief meeting with its leadership, said the government would look into their demands.
While noting that tax was necessary for the government to deliver on its promises, the commissioner added that schools would not be overburdened with taxation.