The Federal Government realised over N35 billion in tax recoveries out of N92.7 billion tax liabilities by tax defaulters as it deepened enforcement reforms to shore up its non-oil revenue. The tax reforms initiative increased the number of taxpayers to 19 million with additional of over five million new taxpayers enrolled, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed disclosed over the weekend in Lagos while interfacing with journalists on major economic mileages of the current administration. The government, in 2017 introduced Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), a time-limited opportunity for taxpayers to regularize their tax status relating to previous tax periods and pay any taxes due. In exchange for fully and honestly declaring previously undisclosed assets and income, taxpayers will benefit from forgiveness of overdue interest and penalties, and the assurance they do not face criminal prosecution for tax offences or tax investigations.
Ahmed said government was oblivious of pileups of tax related cases; a development she said hampered government tax revenues. To break the deadlock, she said eight Tax Appeal Tribunals (TATs) were constituted last year across the nation to accelerate the resolution of over 209 pending cases relating to tax revenues of about $18.8 billion, N205.654 billion and €821,000 respectively.
The minister listed other steps taken by government to boost collection of nonoil revenues to include, the reconstituted Presidential Revenue Monitoring and Reconciliation Committee (PRMRC) to provide reconciled data on oil and non-oil revenues (1999 – 2018; & 2019); to enable real-time monitoring of oil and none oil revenue collection; enhance scrutiny of budgeted expenditures and operating surplus remittances by Government-Owned Entities (GOEs); increased tax collection through Federal Inland Revenue Service’s automation of VAT collection at source and implementation of Project Lighthouse to mine data from recent tax amnesty exercises and recover unpaid taxes.
Source: Headline Nigeria