May 28, 2019

CITN, ACCA sign pact to deepen capacity in finance sector

Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), on professional curriculum exchange and membership recognition between the two institutions. The pact will define how CITN and ACCA would collaborate to develop ACCA’s tax and law variants for Nigeria, and the basis of membership exchange between the two bodies. Speaking at a brief ceremony recently in Lagos, President and Chairman of Council, CITN, Cyril Ede, said the partnership would help the Institute and ACCA to understand the intricacies in taxation and accounting professions. Ede noted that the collaboration would look at areas of common interest, and would place CITN on an international sphere whereby knowledge of international tax and associated issues would be gained. “ACCA is a worldwide recognized body, not only in accounting but also in business matters. Our relationship with ACCA would be very beneficial to our members and also beneficial to ACCA.“We have pursued this matter vigorously since 2017 because this relationship would help us to widen the knowledge of taxation for more people to be involved in tax payment. Our main focus is to widen the people’s knowledge on taxation to know that it’s a compulsory responsibility,” he said. In his remarks, the Head, ACCA Nigeria, Thomas Isibor, noted that the collaboration between the two bodies was a milestone, as it shows the importance attached to partnership development. He said the partnership would aid the development of capacity in Nigeria’s the finance sector, as CITN and ACCA will bring together resources and help in building the sector. He said: “The benefit of this is on three layers: first is national, which is country wide, in terms of how we can support in developing the economy and wellbeing of Nigerians and also developing the professionals in the taxation and accountancy profession and also for members value. Meanwhile, the CITN has called on the government to put the right policies in place that will enhance investments in Nigeria’s economy, and promote voluntary tax compliance. Speaking at the 40th induction ceremony, Ede, said an inclusive economic growth of about five per cent yearly can be achieved by providing five million new jobs against the current unemployment trajectory. He maintained that the nation’s budget should detail a plan of action beyond the statement of incomes and expenditures, and fund infrastructural gap to boost Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), and concession arrangements for the proper operation and maintenance of public infrastructure. He charged the 560 inductees to uphold professionalism in their practice of taxation to avoid sanctions by CITN, and comply with the provisions of the charter, bear true allegiance, and promote the image of the institute. In his remarks, Chief Executive Officer, Gabe Fasoto and Co, Gabriel Fasoto, said taxation has always been a distinct profession from accountancy, and charged the inductees to maintain excellence in taxation practice and administration. “Taxation is not settlement; you need to equip yourself technically. Know the tax laws, jurisprudence, and global tax practice, and expand the frontier of tax knowledge rather than only the pecuniary interest,” he admonished.   Source: Guardian

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Trouble for tax evaders as FG inaugurates Project Lighthouse Committee

Trouble is brewing for recalcitrant tax evaders in Nigeria, as the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab, Shamsuna Ahmed, on Friday inaugurated the Steering Committee for “Project Lighthouse” in line with government’s blueprint to aggressively collect more taxes and grow its non-oil revenue base. Project Lighthouse is an initiative which entails using advanced data mining and analytics techniques to identify tax defaulters, establish their tax liabilities and send notifications to appropriate authorities for necessary action. As at June 2018, the initiative, which aggregates data from multiple sources such as bank accounts, land registry records, company registration data, tax filings, Customs records and asset ownership records, has identified a batch of over 130,000 high net worth individuals and companies whose tax records are not up to date due to detected underpayments. Speaking at the inauguration, the Minister said she would Chair the Committee, while the Deputy-chair will be the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties at the Ministry, Dr Mohammed Kyari Dikwa. She added that the Presidential Initiatives for Continuous Audit (PICA) and Department of Technical Services at the Ministry of Finance will serve as the Secretariat of Project Lighthouse. The Minister, in her address, regretted that despite living in a technologically-charged and data-centric world, Nigeria has not developed a culture of using data and information to guide the formulation, implementation and impact assessment of various initiatives and policies or even in carrying out its mandate as a Ministry. She said: “You will recall that one of the key economic policy objectives of the current administration, as contained in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), is improving overall Federal Government revenues by targeting and increasing revenues from non-oil revenue sources. “You will also recall that in the last few months, major steps have been taken to address our chronic revenue challenges. One of such steps is the launch of the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGI), which some of you have been participating in. “Following the ratification of Project Lighthouse at Federal Executive (FEC) on Wednesday 9th May, 2019, the Federal Ministry of Finance is entering in a post-VAIDS or Phase 2 of the Project. “However, this time around, Project Lighthouse is being positioned as a single source of truth for revenue and tax-related intelligence that will support the Ministry, its agencies, revenue agencies, tax authorities and other stakeholders to be better positioned to address the revenue challenges we are facing.” Ahmed stressed that in the first phase of Project Lighthouse, “we will be using Big Data analytics, date sciences and related technologies to gather and analyze financial data and revenue related data from multiple but related sources. We would also use the sophisticated date analysis tools to ‘connect the dots’ between different data sets. The terms of reference of the Steering Committee include, provide strategic direction for the Project; serve as the source of the data required to populate the Project Lighthouse Platform; assist the Federal Ministry of Finance with relevant data/information on mining of information of tax payers and revenue value chain; review of technical aspects of the Project and report on the progress of the project to relevant stakeholders. While urging stakeholders to put in their best to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative, the Minister said, “we can drastically change our revenue story by fully and innovatively exploiting the great power of Big Data Analytics, Data Science and related technologies.” Earlier, the Permanent Secretary Special Duties at the Ministry, Dr Dikwa, who will also serve as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, in his opening remarks, said Project Lighthouse, was part of the strategic revenue growth initiatives, which are measures to boost revenues in line with the provisions of the Constitution, the Fiscal Responsibility Act and other associated laws. He noted further that Project Lighthouse will be a platform that will help the Ministry gather information from both the formal and informal sectors for the purpose of boosting internally generated revenues to adequately fund the budget. Members of the Steering Committee include, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Joint Tax Board (JTB), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other members are, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Special Presidential Initiatives on Recovery of Public Properties (SPIRPP), Permanent Secretary Finance (PSF), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), Budget Office of the Federation (BOF), Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).   Source: The Sun

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FG sets up panel on tax- related intelligence

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed on Friday in Abuja, inaugurated a steering committee for ‘Project Lighthouse’ initiative. ‘Project Lighthouse’  is the government’s data mining unit in the Federal Ministry of Finance, saddled with the responsibility of  compiling data of tax payers during the implementation of the Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme. The Steering Committee is made up of representatives from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Joint Tax Board, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, Central Bank of Nigeria, and Security and Exchange Commission. Other members are, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja Geographical Information System, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Special Presidential Initiatives on Recovery of Public Properties, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Commission, Budget Office of the Federation, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Department of Petroleum Resources and National Bureau of Statistics. Ahmed while inaugurating the committee said it was part of initiatives targeted at boosting the revenue drive of the nation’s economy.   Source: Punch

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‘It’s Not the Job of NASS to Demand Tax Clearance from Journalists’

The publisher of National Daily Newspaper, Sylvester Ebodaghe, has questioned the National Assembly on the new guidelines released for the accreditation of journalists. Ebodaghe during an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, said it is not the job of the Parliament to demand a journalist’s tax clearance before authorizing them to cover plenary. “All around the world, we have guidelines. We are not against guidelines; we want you to be clear as to who is coming into your space. “But to start demanding for tax clearance that you must have a patron or circulation figure verifiable of not less than 40,000, the US Congress is not asking for your patron. They just want to be sure that you are gainfully employed.  “And that you will not abuse your privilege of having access to the chambers. And I think that is what we should be looking at. And not necessarily your tax clearance. They are not CAC; they are not FIRS. So it’s not their job to start asking for a tax clearance,” he said. National Assembly Releases Details Of Its 2018 Budget His comment comes two days after the National Assembly released new guidelines for accreditation of media organizations, journalists/correspondents covering the Senate effective June 11, 2019. NASS in a letter signed by its Director of Information, Agada Emmanuel noted that all previous accreditation granted will lapse with the dissolution of the 8th Assembly. Ebodgahe during the interview on Wednesday recalled that when the Senate had issues on the invasion and theft of mace, the media was solidly behind it. He then wondered why the Parliament would issue out such a directive suggesting it may have a problem with media practitioners. “This Assembly when it came under intense pressure during the invasion and all the crisis it has gone through, the best friend the National Assembly had was the media. “So what problem do they possibly have with the media? All the tweets that were reproduced on various platforms, they were enjoying the manage. So it didn’t really matter who was drawing the attention to their plight as it were,” he stated. Meanwhile, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said that the leadership of the Eight Assembly are not aware of the new guidelines to journalists reporting the National Assembly. The Speaker, on Tuesday, said the leadership of the legislative arm is committed to the freedom of the press and promised to investigate the allegation promptly.   Source: Channel

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Taxation, a different profession entirely, says Fasoto

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

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