The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) has called for the formation of Association of African Tax Institutes to improve tax awareness in the continent.
President of CITN, Mr Sunday Jegede made the call at a meeting of the Presidents of Taxation Institutes and Head of Revenue Agencies in Africa recently in Lagos.
He said there was the need for all to come to terms with the low level of tax awareness against the backdrop of the benefits that would accrue from a developed taxation system.
"To this end, the formation of Association of African Tax Institutes will assist to bridge the divide between tax system and professionals in member countries.
"We should also device strategic ways of encouraging countries within the African continent that do not have professional bodies to establish one so that the potential gains of such could spread through the nooks and crannies of the continent" Jegede said.
He said that stakeholders should help governments to fashion out sound tax policies.
According to him, the proposed institutes would provide a medium where ideas to improve tax practice and administration would be proffered and analysed by seasoned professionals.
"These seasoned professionals will analyse in such a way those socio-economic problems bedeviling African countries can be nipped in the bud permanently," he said.
Jegede pleaded for unalloyed cooperation of stakeholders, especially revenue agencies, in achieving the aspirations to better the continent.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 10 African countries attended the meeting.
Some of the countries are Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, The Gambia, South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, Libya and Kenya.
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