From Isaac Job, Uyo
The Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Justice Ekaette Obot, has emphasized the need for constant training and retraining of judges and magistrates for effective handling of tax related matters.
“Taxation is an evolving field, subject to constant policy, law and administrative changes. Being the vital component of generating Government Revenue and providing essential service it serves as a fundamental pillar in shaping the economic landscape of any society.
“Therefore continues training and retraining for the Judges becomes paramount for the efficient and effective handling of tax related cases”Justice Obot said at the 3-day workshop on Taxation for Judges with the theme ” Contemporary Issues in Taxation” held at Villa Hilton hotels in Uyo, the state capital on Wednesday.
She said as the bastion of justice, the judiciary is connected to efficient tax management, playing the crucial role of upholding the principles of Justice, equity and fairness through interpreting laws and resolving tax disputes.
While noting that Judges and Magistrates must possess the necessary knowledge and skills to handle contemporary tax matters, the CJ expressed confidence that that the training will delve into “effective mechanisms for tax recovery, explore options for tax prosecution, and equip Judges with the rudiments of the power to distrain administrative and pre-judicial procedures”.
Speaking with Journalists after the opening ceremony of the workshop, the chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service, Sir Okon Okon, said that workshop would explore the possibilities aimed at ensuring that digital operators (Cyber businesses) in the state are taxed in order to generate more revenue for the state.
He said “we will look at the very grey area of taxation: How to tax the digital economy like the Cyber businesses and all the activities that are done online. Cyber operators, unlike Special income tax don’t have residence, they’re spread across the world.
“So, how do we track them and bring them into the tax net what are the laws surrounding it, if there is an issue in court, how will the judge handle it? These are some of the things we are going to rub mind on, and come out with the way forward”.
On how much revenue the state is targeting from the sector, Okon said “For today, what we are talking is about understanding the concept of digital taxation. We are not talking about revenue that can come out of it yet, we are just saying, let us understand the concept; how do we tax that sector? It’s when you understand the concept that you can now begin to analyze the data available and based on that data you can determine what can be accruable. Today we don’t have enough understanding of the concept.
” That is why we are coming together to discuss what is this digital taxation? how do we go about it?,who will pay for what services and what will be the character of the tax”?
The state commissioner of Finance, Linus Nkan and the commissioner of justice Mr Uko Udom (SAN) delivered good will messages at the occasion.