I sell bags and fashion accessories in a small stall and have been living in Lagos for over 10 years.
I got to Lagos at a younger age while seeking better opportunities. I eventually settled for business after trying to get employment several times but failed. The inability to get a paying job made me settle for business and stand on my own after being an apprentice. I usually buy bags in bulk from markets and from importers and resell them at a price.
I have experienced instances where I was asked to pay the same type of levy more than once. In fact, it happens often. You might pay a sanitation fee and before you know it, an environmental fee will be demanded again. That makes you wonder how that is entirely different from what was paid for previously. It takes a lot from my pocket and could be inconvenient.
It is hard to say an exact amount is what is coughed out for all these, but on average, I could spend ₦40,000 or more monthly on the various levies. That calculated at the year-end amounts to something enormous. It carries much weight for small, striving business owners like me.
These taxes have influenced my pricing. When costs increase, I have no choice but to adjust prices. However, this creates another challenge because buyers are very price-sensitive. If the prices are too high, they will go elsewhere to buy that same thing. Occasionally, I bear some of the cost just to remain competitive, but this further reduces my profit.
I do not believe all these charges align with official government tax schedules. Some of them are authentic, but the rate and replication make it excessive. It is not clear enough, and as a small business owner, there is little or no access to strong information about what you are supposed to pay.
Multiple taxation has had a serious impact on my revenue. Each time I make sales, a portion of my profit is already reserved for these payments. It reduces what I take home and limits how much I can reinvest in the business.
There have been cases where either my staff or I were overstretched to make unofficial payments. These requests are usually verbal. Nobody gives you a written document for such payments. They just tell you, “Oga, settle us,” “You need to pay this now,” especially from the unofficial ones. They have nothing to lose. No one would want their market worth thousands of naira to be destroyed or damaged because of ₦500. But at the end, those ₦500 payments amount to something tangible to them and a shortage for us.
If you refuse to pay, options are available to take. Either they pick some of your goods or some officer would threaten to lock your shop. Even in some cases, they can create a scene and humiliate you in the presence of existing or new customers. The outcome of that could affect a business’s reputation, which is bad for someone growing.
As narrated by: Kingsley Sunday (Berger, Lagos).
This snippet is published as part of the series, The Art of Taxing Poverty.
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