TAXATION: Titi Fowokan Climbs The Ladder As She Becomes The 3rd Chairperson Society of Women in Taxation, SWIT.

At the Inauguration.

 It is always a thing of pride when women are put in positions of authority, but more joyful is when a woman is put in charge of other women, one of the hardest jobs to do, especially when they are a group of very intelligent and highly exposed sets of women.

Titilayo Fowokan is one of the first class brains in taxation in Nigeria and it was a thing of prestige to have her sworn in as the 3rd Chairperson of the Society of Women in Taxation, Lagos State chapter during an investiture which held in her honour in Lagos to mark the commencement of her tenure and that of her executive committee members.

The ceremony had Albert Folorunsho, Managing Consultant in Pedabo with over 20 years of professional experience in Taxation, Insolvency Practice and Management Consultancy was the guest speaker and spoke on “GLOBAL TAX DRIVE: COMPLIANCE FOR FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN NIGERIA.

In his address, Folorunsho said that global tax drive has become necessity because multinational enterprise (MNE) are taking advantage of the loopholes in local laws as well as exploiting gaps in Taxation treaties where they exist for their benefits.

He went further to say that e- commerce and globalisation have it possible for entities to arrange their businesses in ways they can obtain tax benefits in some jurisdiction, saying that existence of tax havens is depriving host nations of entity in MNE group that created value and rivalry among nations and eagerness to attract foreign direct investment have led to some jurisdictions reducing their rates.

On her part, the newly sworn Chairperson of SWIT, Mrs. Fowokan said that across the globe, a lot of business are done via the tax net, thereby making it impossible for tax evaders to avoid tax payment and with the global tax drive,  more companies comply by paying their taxes. "Since their accounts are no longer private, they are now visible and can be seen and viewed by everyone".

She said once tax affairs are open, it is easy to access a tax payer’s account to know where they actually belong, "As  the Foreign direct investment (FDI) are coming to Nigeria, they are not just coming  to get our resources. We are also getting our own fair share of the tax that belongs to the country”.

Revealing her plans as the new chairperson for SWIT, Fowokan said that her target is to ensure that more women are involve than before in tax matters from the state level to national, promising to carry along all stakeholders and to ensure that more women get involved in policy making for the country.