Hoteliers decry multiple taxation, demand grants

The Nigerian Hotel Association (NHA) has decried multiple taxation, demanding grants to survive. Its President, Dr Patrick Anyanwu, who appealed at a press conference in Bauchi yesterday, observed that several members borrowed money from banks to run businesses.
  
Anyanwu, who spoke against the background of the outcome of a recent delegate meeting held in Lagos earlier this month, said the association was working hard to unite members as one powerful body.
 
His words: “We are pleading for government grants because we are contributing a lot to the development of this country in terms of revenue, employment, and accommodating visitors from all over the world.”

“The government of Nigeria doesn’t have many hotels, it is members of NHA that accommodate their visitors from all over the world. They should think about giving us grants.
  
“Many of the hotels borrowed money from banks to uplift their business, but revenue officials keep coming to us with multiple requests for revenue. We deserve to have grants because, after all, states’ hotel owners are the biggest sources of revenue to the government and the biggest employers of labour.
  
He advised revenue collectors to liaise with the leadership of NHA in the states to know the calibre of hotels they demand revenue from.
 
“You cannot collect revenue by force and put pressure on the owners of hotels,” he stated.