Tax evaders should be made to go to jail – Senator Oshiomhole

Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has said that tax evaders in Nigeria should be made to go to jail.
Oshiomhole, who said this on Wednesday while fielding questions in an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television, stressed that resistance to Value Added Tax, VAT, is peculiar to Nigeria.
According to him, the newly enacted tax laws are designed to protect low-income earners.
He further pointed out that the structure of the tax policy reflects the ideals of a progressive government by shifting a greater burden to high-income earners.
“The facts on the ground show that President Tinubu’s tax policy is consistent with the values of a progressive government
“This is a progressive tax policy that places a higher burden on those who earn more while offering tax exemptions to those who earn less. Any one who evades this tax should be made to go to jail,” he said.
The former Edo State Governor reiterated that misunderstanding of taxation fuels public opposition to VAT and other levies.
“It is only in Nigeria that people talk about the government using money or claim that the government earns money on its own.
“Governments do not earn money; citizens earn income, and the government taxes those earnings, whether individual or corporate. The sum of these taxes determines the annual revenue of the state,” he added.
Tax evaders should be made to go to jail – Senator Oshiomhole