Labour kicks over FG’s plan to tax non-alcoholic drinks

Organized Labour in the Food and Beverage sector has raised alarm over plans by the Federal Government to impose excise duty on non-alcoholic drinks, warning that such tax will cripple the sector.

Under the aegis of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association, FOBTOB, Labour decried excessive taxation of the industry, adding that should the government go ahead with the imposition of the excise duty, the sector could collapse.

President of FOBTOB, Jimoh Oyibo, spoke at the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria, LAWAN’s monthly forum in Lagos.

Oyibo argued that the justification by the National Assembly, the Customs and Finance Ministry, that the manufacturers of non-alcoholic drinks were making excessive profits was not enough to subject them to another tax burden that could cripple them.

He said the argument that there was a 30 percent excise levy on non-alcoholic drinks should not be a yardstick for the federal government to tax the non-alcoholic drinks sector, warning against introduction of excise duty on non-alcoholic carbonated drinks.