Alleged tax evasion: Reps to probe Bolt,Uber operations
Uthman Salami and Abimbola Abatta
Nigerian Lawmakers have set wheels in motion to investigate Bolt and Uber operators, following suspicions of tax evasion.
The House of Representatives agreed to set up an ad hoc committee to probe the level of compliance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) aided transport companies with the extant tax laws of Nigeria.
The agreement follows after a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Ganiyu Abiodun (APC-Lagos state) on Thursday.
While moving the motion, Abiodun said that in the global economy, ICT was often regarded as a strategic tool for achieving success and competitiveness in organisations.
According to him, “In recent times, ICT has had significant impacts on the way organisations operate, as it offers tremendous opportunities such as storing, processing, retrieving, disseminating and sharing of information.
“ICT has created many job opportunities for unemployed persons as the people’s desire for comfortable ride services have enabled companies such as Bolt and Uber spread widely across the country.
“Many transportation activities now occur through online booking and payments which make the ordering of the services easier and efficient.
“Informed that the average weekly earnings of Bolt and Uber drivers are about N60,000 to N120,000 while the companies take off 20 per cent and 25 per cent respectively as commission from the earnings of each driver operating on their platforms.
“Cognisant that the companies have benefited from facilities of the Federal Government such as road and security network which grants them ease of doing business, thus they ought to be fully accountable and up to date in tax remittances.”
Abiodun, however, noted that it was not clear whether the transport companies were fully compliant with the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, considering that the services were online.
An article published by Michaelmas Chambers described tax evasion as one of the major problems hampering Nigeria’s economic growth and development. It is an illegal practice where a person, organisation or corporation deliberately evades paying their authentic tax liability.
Oftentimes, tax evasion is described as a wilful practice of not declaring full taxable income in order to pay tax at a reduced rate.
Meanwhile, in his ruling, the Deputy Speaker of the house, Rep. Ahmed Wase said that the committee, when constituted was expected to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
In Nigeria, the ride-hailing industry keeps expanding. A 2020 report by South African think-tank Cenfri estimated that Nigeria is home to 15% of Africa’s 48.6 million e-hailing users.
Uber and Bolt are the two most popular ride-hailing apps in the country. While Uber first launched its services in Lagos in 2014, Bolt began operating in Nigeria in 2016.
The Nigerian cities where Bolt operates include Calabar, Owerri, Lagos, Umuahia, Kano, Warri, Ado-Ekiti, Bauchi, Akure, Kaduna, Jos, Makurdi, Asaba, Onitsha, Aba, Enugu, Ilorin, Abeokuta, Zaria, Ibadan, Portharcourt, Benin city, Uyo, and Abuja.
On the other hand, Uber currently operates in Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Lagos, Abuja and Benin City.
There are about 20,000 registered Bolt drivers in the country while Uber has about 10,000 registered drivers.
