The Federal Inland Revenue Service would soon
go after multinational companies, corporate
organisations and individuals who are evading
payment of taxes in the country.
The move, according to SUNDAY PUNCH ’s
investigations, is part of a renewed effort by the
agency to boost tax revenue to fund the
programmes of the Federal Government.
Statistics obtained from the service revealed
that out of the 450,000 companies in Nigeria,
only 125,000, representing 27.7 per cent, pay any
form of taxes.
Going by this figure, it implies that about 325,000
companies are evading tax, thus denying the
government huge revenue annually.
In the 2015 fiscal year, the FIRS was given a
revenue generation target of N4.5tn by the
Federal Government and it has so far generated
N2.667tn.
But between January and July, findings by
SUNDAY PUNCH showed that the service had
collected a total sum of N2.374tn against the
target of N2.667trn, thus having a revenue
shorfall of N290bn within the seven-month
period.
The past Chairman of the FIRS, Mr. Sunday
Ogungbesan, had said the service was finding it
difficult to track the financial activities of those
who did not pay taxes, as most of the evaders
were no longer active.
But the Acting Executive Chairman, FIRS, Mr.
Babatunde Fowler, in his first official meeting
with the management staff of the service, was
said to have vowed to ensure that all tax
revenue due to the government would be
recovered from all tax payers.
Fowler said his administration would not take
the issue of tax evasion lightly, as he was aware
that some foreign companies that were operating
in Nigeria were being investigated in England for
evading taxes.
He said, “No country can succeed without
taxation. We will make sure that we cover all
ground, especially on the corporate level; all tax
payers within each state will be covered.
“Those who have found Nigeria a fertile ground;
those who have made a living and made profit
from the businesses within Nigeria, we ask them
to do the right thing.
“We all know the right thing to do. Most of these
companies have the big names as auditors yet
they keep different records — one set of records
for the banks, one set of records for
shareholders and one set of records for the tax
administrators.
“I think it’s time that that was stopped and I am
going to also request that the multinationals
should follow our laws and not do things that will
contravene the tax laws and I ask them that they
should please partner with us and follow the laws
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, especially
when it comes to tax payment.”
The Director, Communications and Liaison
Department, FIRS, Mr. Emmanuel Obeta, had told
our correspondent that the FIRS, in a bid to
capture companies with the tax net, is currently
discussing with the Corporate Affairs
Commission to make it mandatory for the
companies to obtain their Tax Identification
Number at the point of registration.
Obeta said, “The collaboration with the CAC is
still ongoing, such that the FIRS will gain an
immediate access to all the data of registered
companies and such companies can also obtain
their TIN at the point of registration from the
CAC.
“The number was obtained from a physical
validation or enumeration exercise. A lot of the
other registered companies are portfolio
companies without visible validation of their
existence at their given addresses.”

www.punchng.com/news/tax-evasion-firs-to-go-after-325000-companies-persons/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I know that many foreign companies will be guilty of this.

^^^^^^^^Hope you can go the whole 9yards.

Introvert and Christine , I see una hand ooooo.

Oya, make he hire alphabeta to help us get our money, we know mind if dem wan take %10 we are richer dan dat.. Oya, make he hire alphabeta to help us get our money, we know mind if dem wan take %10 we are richer dan dat..