Lagos high court issues bench warrant for JJ's arrest

[Ayo Akinfe]

Lagos high court issues bench warrant for the arrest of former Super Eagles skipper Jay Jay Okocha - See more at: https://goo.gl/jevSuK

O dear. This is not good news. Biko JJ, hire an accountant to sort out your taxes now, haba!

Nigeria needs tax to survive as a nation, so you need to pay your fair share. Maybe this is where the Nigerian football federation and ex players' union should come in. Having a team of tax experts who can advise and work with players and ex-players will help avoid these kind of problems.

For now, I suggest you appear in court, apologise, ask for bail and then go and sort the matter out. Your first step now is to get a tax lawyer!

[pajimoh]

1Naira in 5,4,3,2.......

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

1Naira in 5,4,3,2.......

Yup. He still doesn’t have a job.

[Senator WIRES]

He will need to move his business empire to the east..we don't. trust Lagos state govt again

[maceo4]

He will need to move his business empire to the east..we don't. trust Lagos state govt again

He should pay taxes now, haba...

[kajifu]

I hope they go easy on him.

[Eaglezbeak]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

[deanotito]

I can understand having a mix up with tax payment, especially for businessmen....but not responding to court summons...? Haba Jay Jay

[jette1]

he is not guilty

[maceo4]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

Should I give you the address to send yours?

[aruako1]

I will wait to hear more. In my experience LIRS is not to be trusted.

[danfo driver]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

I was going to laugh at your comment, but hwnthe honest truth is that most Nigerians think like you. We are very badly informed about taxes in Nigeria.

1. Most Nigerians do not know that for every single thing you purchase in Nigeria, even something as small as biscuit, gala or sweet (candy), he races have been pre-added to the overall cost of the product. Unlike the U.S, where you pay taxes at the cashier, after purchasing the product.

2. As much as Nigerians try to evade corporate taxes, the legislature are quite good in in upgrading tax laws to counter-act that. I experienced his last year.

3 finally, Nigeria has one of the most stringent, highest (actually) and strongly applied corporate/employee tax systems in Africa (perhaps the world). This one came as a shack to me, and I only got to know when we opened our Lagos office 2 years ago. You can do all you like, but you can’t evade it! And they tax you heavily! It’s no joke.

4 foreign goods. I don’t do shipping and I am not one of those naija people who “send cars home,” lol. But I have heard that the tariffs on foreign goods are very high and they crack down on you heavily, if you try to evade it— and I am not referring to bribes at point of entry, I am referring to real regulatory tariffs.

[Bigpokey24]

nah wah oo AFCON is around the corner, that hustler ayokinfe is back...hmmmmm

[Kako]

nah wah oo AFCON is around the corner, that hustler ayokinfe is back...hmmmmm

[Eaglezbeak]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

Should I give you the address to send yours?

I will gladly send my Monopoly money!

[Eaglezbeak]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

I was going to laugh at your comment, but hwnthe honest truth is that most Nigerians think like you. We are very badly informed about taxes in Nigeria.

1. Most Nigerians do not know that for every single thing you purchase in Nigeria, even something as small as biscuit, gala or sweet (candy), he races have been pre-added to the overall cost of the product. Unlike the U.S, where you pay taxes at the cashier, after purchasing the product.

2. As much as Nigerians try to evade corporate taxes, the legislature are quite good in in upgrading tax laws to counter-act that. I experienced his last year.

3 finally, Nigeria has one of the most stringent, highest (actually) and strongly applied corporate/employee tax systems in Africa (perhaps the world). This one came as a shack to me, and I only got to know when we opened our Lagos office 2 years ago. You can do all you like, but you can’t evade it! And they tax you heavily! It’s no joke.

4 foreign goods. I don’t do shipping and I am not one of those naija people who “send cars home,” lol. But I have heard that the tariffs on foreign goods are very high and they crack down on you heavily, if you try to evade it— and I am not referring to bribes at point of entry, I am referring to real regulatory tariffs.

Please don’t stone me but I’ve never lived in Nigeria and wasn’t even born there although I’m of Nigerian heritage,I can’t imagine paying tax will help anybody apart from the recipient in Nigeria!

[Odas]

I will wait to hear more. In my experience LIRS is not to be trusted.

Aruako1, why should they not be trusted? Have they messed with you before? How did it end?

[Odas]

nah wah oo AFCON is around the corner, that hustler ayokinfe is back...hmmmmm

Mmm? Na Bigpokey24 rite (write) dis tin?

[danfo driver]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

I was going to laugh at your comment, but hwnthe honest truth is that most Nigerians think like you. We are very badly informed about taxes in Nigeria.

1. Most Nigerians do not know that for every single thing you purchase in Nigeria, even something as small as biscuit, gala or sweet (candy), he races have been pre-added to the overall cost of the product. Unlike the U.S, where you pay taxes at the cashier, after purchasing the product.

2. As much as Nigerians try to evade corporate taxes, the legislature are quite good in in upgrading tax laws to counter-act that. I experienced his last year.

3 finally, Nigeria has one of the most stringent, highest (actually) and strongly applied corporate/employee tax systems in Africa (perhaps the world). This one came as a shack to me, and I only got to know when we opened our Lagos office 2 years ago. You can do all you like, but you can’t evade it! And they tax you heavily! It’s no joke.

4 foreign goods. I don’t do shipping and I am not one of those naija people who “send cars home,” lol. But I have heard that the tariffs on foreign goods are very high and they crack down on you heavily, if you try to evade it— and I am not referring to bribes at point of entry, I am referring to real regulatory tariffs.

Please don’t stone me but I’ve never lived in Nigeria and wasn’t even born there although I’m of Nigerian heritage,I can’t imagine paying tax will help anybody apart from the recipient in Nigeria!

The recipient is the federal, state and local tax authorities. In essense, the government. The money is used, as in any other countries, for (1) infrastructure, (2) maintenance, (3) defense and other military spending, (4) health, education and other social programs, and several others. How do you think Nigeria pays for these things? Through crude oil?

Yes, many of these things are underfunded because of corruption, etc etc.. but its not as bad as many people think.

Truth is, you are not alone, bro. Many people, including Nigerians, have serious misconceptions about Nigeria.

[icee]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

I was going to laugh at your comment, but hwnthe honest truth is that most Nigerians think like you. We are very badly informed about taxes in Nigeria.

1. Most Nigerians do not know that for every single thing you purchase in Nigeria, even something as small as biscuit, gala or sweet (candy), he races have been pre-added to the overall cost of the product. Unlike the U.S, where you pay taxes at the cashier, after purchasing the product.

2. As much as Nigerians try to evade corporate taxes, the legislature are quite good in in upgrading tax laws to counter-act that. I experienced his last year.

3 finally, Nigeria has one of the most stringent, highest (actually) and strongly applied corporate/employee tax systems in Africa (perhaps the world). This one came as a shack to me, and I only got to know when we opened our Lagos office 2 years ago. You can do all you like, but you can’t evade it! And they tax you heavily! It’s no joke.

4 foreign goods. I don’t do shipping and I am not one of those naija people who “send cars home,” lol. But I have heard that the tariffs on foreign goods are very high and they crack down on you heavily, if you try to evade it— and I am not referring to bribes at point of entry, I am referring to real regulatory tariffs.

Not too sure about these comments. At the macro level, Nigeria has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratio in the world at 5.85% (Ghana is at 15%, South Africa is at 24%). The data lends credence to the thinking that Nigeria's tax system is very weak, not progressive. there's a reason why people can own 10 -15 private homes across Nigeria, payed in full and not go bankrupt because the tax obligation as an ongoing cost doesn't exists. A progressive tax system in a way punishes stolen or sudden wealth that is not managed well. You will not be able to loot and buy a ton of property because once the loot is gone, you'll have no money for the tax liability.

Anyways, Lagos has the highest internally generated revenue of any state in Nigeria (more than that of 30 states put together) and it is only state (along with Ogun) that as at 2017 generated more revenue that what they got from federal allocation. I can see how businesses in Lagos may be feeling relatively "squeezed". key word is "relative". The tax system is still weak, still unstructured (meaning very few can be unfairly taxed relative to others around) so perhaps this is where and why some people may have issues paying in Lagos...the uneven rules/application which speaks more to where we are per our tax system. Out of 180million people, less than 250 Nigerians pay taxes that exceed 20milliion naira. "250". I am a big Jay jay fan, and respect the services and sacrifice he and others made in serving but unless one of the benefits of winning ANC or WC is tax free life, they should pay taxes at home. The UK, Turkey and Germany definitely taxed him to continue to develop their countries

Anyone outside Lagos or Ogun should not even...

[Orion]

Pay taxes in Nigeria to whom?

I was going to laugh at your comment, but hwnthe honest truth is that most Nigerians think like you. We are very badly informed about taxes in Nigeria.

1. Most Nigerians do not know that for every single thing you purchase in Nigeria, even something as small as biscuit, gala or sweet (candy), he races have been pre-added to the overall cost of the product. Unlike the U.S, where you pay taxes at the cashier, after purchasing the product.

2. As much as Nigerians try to evade corporate taxes, the legislature are quite good in in upgrading tax laws to counter-act that. I experienced his last year.

3 finally, Nigeria has one of the most stringent, highest (actually) and strongly applied corporate/employee tax systems in Africa (perhaps the world). This one came as a shack to me, and I only got to know when we opened our Lagos office 2 years ago. You can do all you like, but you can’t evade it! And they tax you heavily! It’s no joke.

4 foreign goods. I don’t do shipping and I am not one of those naija people who “send cars home,” lol. But I have heard that the tariffs on foreign goods are very high and they crack down on you heavily, if you try to evade it— and I am not referring to bribes at point of entry, I am referring to real regulatory tariffs.

Please don’t stone me but I’ve never lived in Nigeria and wasn’t even born there although I’m of Nigerian heritage,I can’t imagine paying tax will help anybody apart from the recipient in Nigeria!

I hope you're not implying that people in Nigeria shouldn't pay taxes because you believe the money is going into private pockets.

The most important thing in life is to do the right thing in any given situation. We obviously need taxes in Nigeria to build any a kind modern day functioning society, just as we're doing in the countries we live abroad. My philosophy is, play your part and don't worry about things that are outside your control. If you think your taxes are not being utilised properly then you could use whatever avenue is available to you to voice your complaints (if you have the time and resources).

[nemi2002]

How much is involved

[danfo driver]

Not too sure about these comments. At the macro level, Nigeria has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratio in the world at 5.85% (Ghana is at 15%, South Africa is at 24%). The data lends credence to the thinking that Nigeria's tax system is very weak, not progressive. there's a reason why people can own 10 -15 private homes across Nigeria, payed in full and not go bankrupt because the tax obligation as an ongoing cost doesn't exists. A progressive tax system in a way punishes stolen or sudden wealth that is not managed well. You will not be able to loot and buy a ton of property because once the loot is gone, you'll have no money for the tax liability.

1. How many Nigerians do you know own 10-15 private homes? P.s-- Most Nigerians of adult age are tenants and not landlords.


2. In America, you call it property taxes. In Nigeria, you call it ground rent. You must pay this to the local government, every year, or else, they will put a lien on your property and if it accumulates, the government will seize your property, as payment. Then in addition to ground rent, there is something people call "maintenance fee in America. This is usually enforced in your local estate or sometimes, by the local government, where the government picks up trash and recycle. In Nigeria, i can't remember the official name, but one of my agents calls is "garbage fee. You pay this to the local government yearly and they pick up your garbage. if you dont, it will continue to increase and again, they put a lien on your property.

Anyways, Lagos has the highest internally generated revenue of any state in Nigeria (more than that of 30 states put together) and it is only state (along with Ogun) that as at 2017 generated more revenue that what they got from federal allocation. I can see how businesses in Lagos may be feeling relatively "squeezed". key word is "relative". The tax system is still weak, still unstructured (meaning very few can be unfairly taxed relative to others around) so perhaps this is where and why some people may have issues paying in Lagos...the uneven rules/application which speaks more to where we are per our tax system. Out of 180million people, less than 250 Nigerians pay taxes that exceed 20milliion naira. "250". I am a big Jay jay fan, and respect the services and sacrifice he and others made in serving but unless one of the benefits of winning ANC or WC is tax free life, they should pay taxes at home. The UK, Turkey and Germany definitely taxed him to continue to develop their countries

Anyone outside Lagos or Ogun should not even...

Could you provide the numbers to back this up. I know of start-up companies, who have only been in business for less than 2 years that pay more than that per year. Common pay-roll taxes are 10% of the employee's income. So, if you have 10 employees who make 12 million per year (1 million per month), thats already 12 million in taxes.

Anyway, this is a football forum... make we leave finance aside. I have my experience, it seems you have yours. Its okay for us to continue to experience life and Nigeria the way we have.