The immediate past National President/Chairman of the Council of Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria, Mr Gabriel Fasoto, has disabused the minds of many young tax practioners when he said the practice of taxation as a profession is a distinct discipline from accountancy. The past president, Chartered Institute of Taxation said the clarification was necessary because many people were ignorant of the existing facts.
He spoke at the 40th induction ceremony of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria in Lagos where 560 were inducted among whom was an 82-year old man. The guest speaker’s address was titled ‘Can I earn a living with my Chartered Tax Practitioner?’ Fasoto said, “A question that has been bothering many of you is why taxation is a separate profession from Accountancy in Nigeria. Some people have even brainwashed some of us that it is only in Nigeria that this situation exist.” But the guest disagreed with a verifiable fact when he took the participants down the memory lane when he said, “The Institute of Chartered accountants of England and Wales, the oldest Accountancy Institute in the world, was granted the Royal Charter on 11th May, 1880. Going through the Charter, there was no mention of taxation therein.” He explained that before he chose to become a registered member of the CITN and as an existing member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, he “specifically” went through the Act establishing ICAN and CITN and found out that there was no functions’ overlapping between the two professional bodies.
Source: Punch
