By Ikeoye Oyetoro

The total tax paid by Julius Berger Nigeria Limited in 2009 including its Pay As You Earn(PAYE) in the various states of the federation, was about N12 billion.This translates to about N1 billion on a monthly basis.

Thecompany’s Managing Director, Wolfgang Goetsch, disclosed this during a chat with journalists after the Lagos State Government gave a special award to the company in recognition of the company’s level of personal income tax compliance in year 2009.

The award was presented to the company by the state Governor, Babatunde Fashola, during the fourth Lagos State Taxation Stakeholders Conference recently.

The Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue nominated Julius Berger as a recipient of the award for being a responsible corporate citizen that has been paying its tax consistently without being forced to do so.

Goetsch, who received the award, stated that the organisation is honoured to have been found worthy of the prestigious award.
He explained that the company believes prompt payment of state and federal taxes is the foundation of a functioning government.

Goetch added that for a country like Nigeria with two sources of income which are oil and gas business and income taxes, the collection of taxes remains the most important factor for democracy to develop and for government to function effectively.

He pointed out that the tax payer’s money, when invested in infrastructure, is an investment that the people can emotionally identify with, noting that it is a tangible result that where the taxpayer can say “this is the result of my money, which has been invested to my benefit”.

Goetsch noted that apart from paying taxes promptly, Julius Berger has also been discharging its corporate social responsibility function creditably well by supporting health and welfare development, promoting education of the underprivileged and being involved in sports development.