Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises producing carbonated drinks have voiced out on how much of a burden the tax of NGN10 per litre on carbonated drinks is. The PUNCH Newspaper reported on its website, how, according to MSMEs producing carbonated drinks, a cost of NGN4.8 million per annum is required by just one operator for a complete registration process and compliance with other compulsory charges.
Faulting the Sugar Tax in an extensive interview with The PUNCH, the immediate past president of the Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, made it known that large-scale industrialists might not have a problem paying the excise tax, but, virtually all small-scale industrialists certainly would find it difficult to; they would even find themselves out of business.
An MSME owner, Peter Popoola, confirmed that many businesses were already folding up, and appealed for the Federal Government’s intervention with helpful schemes. He said, “Our complaint is that you can’t give a flat rate for both small and multinational companies to pay. So, a small enterprise that is producing fruit flavored drinks with about five tanks or ten will pay the same as a multinational firm? You are telling them to pay the same amount as large enterprises.”
Mr. Popoola also cited the very high cost of factors of production, and the effects of inflation on profits made, as further reasons the sugar tax should be reevaluated. According to him, MSMEs “do not have the financial ability to take in more tax.”
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