The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has advised Federal Government to urgently amend archaic tax laws as part of its strategies for improving the Ease of Doing Business Ranking of the country.
Alhaji Razak Jaiyeola, ICAN President, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
Jaiyeola said that the institute was dismayed at the un-dynamic nature of tax laws in the country, considering the rapid changes in technology and business models.
“The archaic Stamp Duty Act of 1939 and other related laws, which were enacted when electronic transactions were unknown, should be amended to ease the business clime,” the ICAN chief said.
He also urged the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to revisit the huge withholding tax credits which tax payers were finding difficult to access to settle their tax liabilities.
Jaiyeola also called for an aggressive enlightenment of the public on the severity of the impact of cyber crimes on information resources, wealth of individuals, institutions and nations.
He noted that the campaign should centre on the dangers associated not only with the use of free Wi-Fi and free anti-virus packages, but also with the careless handling of passwords and other security details.
“Individuals and entities should continually review and identify their risk areas and deploy appropriate security measures.
“To reinforce these measures, we recommend the use of local languages for setting passwords, change passwords every 90 days; regularly update security software and programme.
“Also, check application permissions to restrict App access to system data; embark on continuous user education and awareness, as well as use different passwords for different applications,” he said.
Jaiyeola advised ICAN members and entities to retool, rethink, retrain, embrace and indigenise technology.
He also advised chartered accountants to be more adaptable, invest in technology and become accounting information technology experts.
He urged them to continuously strive to hone their skills so that they can reposition themselves for greater value-creation and enhanced service delivery.
The ICAN chief advised members to see technology as business-enabler and the key to their future relevance.
