The Chairman of RNFAC, Mr Elias Mbam, made the suggestion on Tuesday in Asaba at a zonal advocacy workshop on economic diversification, organised by the commission to enhance revenue generation.
Mbam said the proposed communication tax would make it mandatory for mobile phone users, who spent more than N100 on calls daily to pay tax.
``Presently, there are over 100 million telecommunications subscribers in Nigeria.
``There should be a law that provides that anybody who uses above N100 recharge card a day should be taxed for a percentage of the extra value used.
``In other words, once you consume over N100 in phone calls, for that extra-money, you must pay a particular percentage of tax.
``I can assure you that if we collect that, even if it is 1 per cent, the nation will get over N1 billion a day.
Mbam said such revenue could be used to provide ``free education at all levels in the country.
``The spectrum (communication) is our national wealth and anyone who is enjoying our national wealth should be made to pay for it,’’ he said.
The chairman also advocated the payment of ``merriment tax’’ for wealthy Nigerians.
``If you have a ceremony that establishes your level of income, clearly those ceremonies should be taxed.
``For instance, if somebody is taking a chieftaincy title and takes a live TV coverage for the whole day (or several hours), the ceremony should be taxed.
``The money being used for such occasions must have been acquired for certain privileges the celebrant has and he should pay tax for that.
The zonal workshop on economic diversification is the third in the series organised by the commission.
The aim of the workshop is to spur states and local governments to rely less on monthly revenue allocation from the sale of crude oil and gas.
The commission believes that investment in agriculture; tourism, solid minerals and the manufacturing sector can create more opportunities for economic growth in the three tiers of government beyond oil.
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