The current stance of the Federal Government is to increase its non- oil revenues. One good way to achieve this to enhance its tax administration machineries. In the days to come, Nigerians shall see the Federal Inland Revenue Service enforcing on tax collections, and this would inevitably lead some people to jail terms .

It is important, therefore, to understand the dynamics of taxation in Nigeria, with a view to mitigating possible future tax liabilities. This is particularly important to owners of businesses.

To reduce tax liabilities, the following should be done.

1. Engage the services of qualified Tax Consultant.
2. Ensure that your books of accounts are properly kept. Create cashbooks, payment vouchers.
3. Do not throw away those receipts of assets purchased. Keep them properly.
4. Reconcile your bank statements to cashbooks.
5.Separate your personal expenses from those of the business, and as much as possible, do not pay your personal money into the company's bank accounts.
6. File your tax returns within due dates.
7. Avoid rushing to FIRS alone. You will get into trouble, if your Tax Consultant is not there.

Seek for help when you are in shit already!

9c one.

The government is not really thinking out of the box in its' bid to enhance tax collection and administration.

For example, why can't the govt issue an entrepreneur with a TIN number at the point where he registers his business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)? Once you get your RC No, you should be able to get your TIN No the same day.

It boasts of having over 3,000 workers nationwide. How has it deployed them? Tax officials like to harrass and initimidate people left, right and centre with wrongly computed tax figures or assessments.

A neighbour of mine with a small provisions shop on our street was recently asked to pay over =N=800,000 naira as annual corporate tax, simply because the business name she used was a limited liability company.

This is a woman whose profit is barely up to 37,000 naira in a month. Out of her earnings, she pays the wages of one salesgirl, pays local govt signboard tax, pays council levies, pays for petrol to power her genset etc. Most of the time her shop is closed, whenever she has to go outside town to see her children in boarding school.

All attempts to make the tax officials see reason fell on deaf ears. They sealed the shop oh! Only God knows how they arrived at that tax assessment figure!

Please read this article on taxation in Nigeria

The FIRS chairman, speaking on how to boost non-oil revenue said that it would crack down on tax evaders by denying them access to banking facilities for individuals and companies that failed to join its register. FIRS boss told journalists in a news briefing in Lagos that there were more than 450,000 companies in the country, but only about 125,000 pay any form of tax.

Ogungbesan said it was difficult to track the financial activities of those who did not pay taxes, adding that most their firms were not active. “We are collaborating with the CBN to enforce compulsory registration with the tax authorities by companies and individuals before they can access their bank accounts,” said Ogungbesan.

Tax identification numbers were introduced for corporate bank accounts in 2012 but some firms whose accounts pre-date the system are currently not obliged to have one. “There is a need to review our tax laws,” said Ogungbesan, adding they were not stringent enough to deter evaders. Tax evasion can be punished with up to five years in prison....

..“The same law which said you must commence business has not provided the infrastructure upon which you can rest. If a company is registered and stays for years without doing business and becomes operational ten to fifteen years later, it will be required to pay return charge fee of N25, 000 for each of the year it did not operate as penalty. This kind of law does not promote investment.

“There is the need to intervene, and amend the complex laws that inhibit interest in promoting investment in the country. The thinking is that all those in the informal sector are not paying taxes, it is only those in formal employment that are paying. Can this be true?

When the local government comes to the market to allocate stores, the woman in the store pays N2, 000 per month. Is that not tax she is paying? All those sundry levies being collected by states, they have more than sixty levies on these businesses what do you call that? They are taxation in one form or another.

“It is true they are not paying adequate taxes, some body that should be paying N60,000 is giving you N2, 500. The limitation and the challenges we have is that we do not know who these tax payers are and where they are operating from. The fact is that the Federal Inland Revenue Service which every one is quick to refer to is only administering the Federal Capital Territory, not the entire country and so that makes it difficult for us.

“When we compute tax-to-GDP ratio, every now and then you hear Nigeria is doing only about 7.5 per cent, whereas other countries in Africa are reporting about 19 per cent. “Yes they are partially correct but they forget that the various levies at the local and state levels, including the personal income taxation administered by state governments are not captured.

If you include them in the tax figure, Nigeria will be doing close to 17.5 per cent. It is still not enough because the bench mark is 20-22 per cent. We are not assessing ourselves correctly. “The quick win is, why not increase the rate of VAT from 5-10 per cent? Can we do it now? If you see how far we have gone this year in revenue generation you will see that VAT would have increased by July, that is the target they gave us but we have not been able to do it.

- See more at: http://www.nigeriabar.com/2015/08/new-rules-to-halt-tax-evasion-raise-vat-underway#.Vcx8qLJViko

Cases like that of the woman in question should be reported to the corporate office of FIRS. Those tax officers are thieves. The reason they succeed is because some taxpayers do not involve tax consultants in their affairs. I like to handle cases like this, as I would put such tax officers into trouble and watch them pay for their sins!