NEW STAMP DUTY TAX POLICY IS ANTI-POOR
Why we understand the need for the government to augment its revenue base, I do not think it has to be done by robbing Peter to pay Paul. In this regard, the poor is being robbed to pay the rich. One of the principles of a good taxation is income redistribution. By this, government strives to take more from the rich to improve the lives of the poor and thereby reduce the income inequality gap between the rich and the poor. Am therefore at sea to discover that the government is more interested in extracting ‘juice’ from it people as against their welfare.
By extending the stamp duty implementation to our savings, the poor is indirectly subsiding the rich. This is at odd to modern economics theories. Even Keynes in his days would not have done this. For instance, if Aliko Dangote does a one million banking transaction and a stamp duty of N50 is charged, he would be left with N999,950 ( i.e N50/1m = 0.0005%) as against a market woman from Mile 12, who does a N 2000 with a N 50 stamp duty, she would be left with N1,950 (i,e N 50/2000 = 0.025%).