A tax-compliant expert from Goldstone Attorneys, Obare Musa, has called on non-governmental organisations to ensure they remit their taxes to the appropriate authorities.
Musa, who spoke at a two-day training organised by Global Rights for representatives of selected NGOs held in Osogbo, Osun State, said many not-for-profit groups often feel they don’t have the obligation to pay taxes.
Highlighting many gains in the payment of taxes, she noted that NGOs must file annual returns and pay taxes when they engage in businesses in compliance with the existing laws.
According to Musa, NGOs should take the issue of being a tax agent seriously since the laws mandate the deduction of tax from the salaries of their employees.
Asked if NGOs in the country were tax compliant, Musa said, “From my experience so far and this training, we see that a lot of NGOs are not tax compliant because they don’t know what they ought to be doing.
“So, lack of awareness hinders their compliance, but hopefully, with this training, we can bring these ones on board to boost compliance.”
Speaking on behalf of the organisers of the workshop, the Programme Manager of Global Rights, Edosa Oviawe, stated that many non-profit organisations were losing credibility due to non-compliance with existing regulations.
According to Oviawe, many of the NGOs are failing to comply due to a knowledge gap, noting that the workshop was designed to engage them and make the not-for-profit groups see the need to comply with relevant laws as corporate entities involved in charity work.
He added that the group was working towards providing training for about 370 NGOs over three years, maintaining that the initiative was being supported by the European Union delegation to ECOWAS and Nigeria.
