BREAKING: Private School Owners Drag DTSG To Court Over Multiple Tax, Others

By Daniel Dafe

National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Delta State Wing, under the leadership of Deacon Monday Ifoghere, has dragged the Delta State Government before the High Court of Justice, Otor-Udu, over issues of multiple taxation and illegal monies demanded by several government agencies which they said has brought about severe hardship to private school owners.

Joined in the case as defendants with Suit No: OUCH/114/2021 are the Governor of Delta State, Hon. Commissioner of Finance, Delta State, Hon. Commissioner for Secondary Education, Delta State, Hon. Commissioner for Basic Education, Delta State, Delta State Board of Internal Revenue, Delta State Signage and Advertisement Agency and the Attorney General of Delta State.

Questions to be determined are whether the Delta State Government’s consolidated revenue demands which include levies for boreholes, private institution application and registration fees, operational levies, renewal of license levies, and the physical and infrastructural development levies are in tandem with the tax and levies approved for collection by the state government under Part 11 of the Schedule to the Taxes of Levies (Approve list for collection ) Act, 2004 and Part 11 of the Second Schedule to the 1999 constitution (as amended).

Other grievances of the school owners to be looked into by the court are the demands that school owners pay waste disposal levy, signage fees and/ or bill board levies.

According to NAPPS, private schools are solely for educational activities and should not be seen as business outfits for serious revenue generation by the Okowa administration, adding that many of the levies are unnecessary and some of the levies newly introduced look like double taxation.

They also want the courts to declare that private schools ought not to have dealing with the Board of Internal Revenue aside issues of personal income tax and PAYE.

Oasis Magazine gathered that the Delta State Government recently introduced a new regime of taxes and levies for registered private schools in the state which NAPPS say are not in tandem with existing statues.

NAPPS thus wants the courts to restrict the government from collecting levies for boreholes, private institution, application and registration fees, operational levies, renewal of license levies and physical and infrastructural development levies.

Other levies they want declared illegal are levies for waste disposal, mobile advert fees and signage fees.

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Speaking to Oasis Magazine on the matter, Deacon Ifoghere said the government was overtaxing them with its agencies.

He added: “They should not see us as business outfits. We ought to be given subvention by the state government and not what they are trying to do now.

“How can school owners pay for borehole that we sunk ourselves and many of these monies they are demanding are very exorbitant. They want us to pay for infrastructural development as high as N350, 000. Tenement rate and waste management are other of their demands. Schools are vulnerable in Delta.

“We want the court to interpret which one we should pay. We have complained to the commissioner and they promised to speak to these agencies but the more we complain, they increase the levies.”

Asked what the new introduction amounts to, he said it differs from school to school and local government area to local government areas.

“Maybe they want to kill private education. Imagine in this season when we are trying to reduce out-of-school children, they want to force us out of business.

They have started hitting some local government areas already like Oshimilli and Warri. So, the earlier we seek redress in court the better for us.

“If you look at the money they are now demanding, it is about one million naira.

They want us to pay N110,000 for renewal, N150,000 for infrastructure. Some are even asked to pay in arrears. Registration of business premises was put at N50, 000; operational levy at N150, 000; fire service at N50, 0000. The sad part is that such money does not even go into government coffers.”

The case was supposed to be heard today at the court, but a new date will be announced because of the ongoing NBA conference.