Entrepreneurs solicit for one-year tax relief as COVID-19 palliatives

Entrepreneurs in Nigeria are requesting a year tax relief for businesses crippled by the coronavirus outbreak, and the postponement of execution of the new Value Added Tax regime until the latter part of 2020.

The move which is being championed by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) solicited the incentives for Small and Medium Enterprises, manufacturers, airlines, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, the hospitality sector and agro-processors.

“Recognising the role of business and investment in the economy, it is imperative to have a strategy aimed at enabling businesses to navigate through the current storm caused by the pandemic and jumpstarting the economy in general,” the report read in part.

Muda Yusuf, the LCCI boss affirmed that the survey aimed at taking stock of the sweeping ramifications of the lockdown on trade by using Lagos as a case study, considering its “commercial and economic importance to Nigeria.”

The report observed the views of business owners across industries, comprising financial services, ICT, agriculture, trade, professional services, exports, food processing as well as freight forwarding.

81 per cent of the businesses sampled said they were adversely affected by the lockdown. 17 per cent noted a moderate impact of the situation on their businesses.

Businesses in the services sector, severely hampered by the lockdown owing to falling patronage of services by clients, came to 50 per cent.

Clients spent more on food and essentials more than ‘relatively less important’ services while corporate clients ran partial operations, which scaled down demand for non-essential services, the report said.