… As Adeosun, El-Rufai, meet taxpayers March 1

Uche Usim, Abuja

Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Tunde Fowler, has advised prominent Nigerians with tax liabilities to take advantage of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), as political, social or economic prominence will not insulate them from sanctions for non-declaration. Fowler gave the advice in an interview in Lagos on Saturday. According to the FIRS Chairman. VAIDS offers all categories of tax debtors the opportunity to regularise their tax status and warned that failure to take advantage of the tax amnesty programme, which ends on March 31, will attract a number of sanctions. These, he said, include, payment of penalties and interests on owed taxes, tax audits and prosecution.

Asked if Nigerians with strong social and political connections will not escape sanctions for failure to comply with VAIDS, Mr. Fowler said the laws against tax avoidance do not respect political, social or corporate positions.

He also stated that neither President Muhammadu Buhari, who nominated him as FIRS Chairman,nor Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who heads the Federal Government Economic Team, has given instructions that that tax-owing influential Nigerians be treated differently.                  

Fowler warned that the government was ready, willing and able to take tough actions against individuals and corporate entities, who refuse to take advantage of VAIDS. “I am a nominee of the President. I was confirmed by the Senate. We work with the Vice President, who is the head of the Economic Team, and the Federal Ministry of Finance. We have not been instructed to avoid, on account of political or corporate position, taking necessary actions to recover taxes. I do not think it will happen.

VAIDS is for all Nigerians old enough to pay tax. It will speed up development of the country,” said Fowler. The FIRS boss stated that many Nigerians with tax liabilities are approaching the FIRS and state revenue authorities to express their intention to declare under VAIDS.

He counseled those who are yet to take the necessary steps to do so before the window of opportunity closes, as there will be no hiding place for defaulters. He stated that tax authorities are in possession of huge volumes of transaction and financial data obtained from banks, payment platforms and government agencies.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai will on March 1 meet with business leaders, business owners and tax payers in Kaduna over the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS).

The Kaduna State Government is hosting the VAIDS Stakeholders’ Symposium, which is expected to have in attendance Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler; members of the State Executive Council, members of the State House of Assembly and traditional rulers.

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Also invited to the sensitisation meeting are business groups, tax advisers, captains of industries, professional and artisan bodies, and other strategic economic groupings within Kaduna State and environs.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has identified regular tax payment by Nigerians as fundamental to the growth and development of the country.

She noted that predictable tax revenue inflow would lead to more investment by the Federal and state governments in infrastructure and job and wealth creation across the nation.

“Payment of taxes is a fundamental requirement for our growth story. Nigeria has a very poor scorecard in tax payment. When oil came, we abandoned the old systems of tax collection that provided most of our infrastructure since colonial days.

“Currently, we have just 14 million tax payers out of 70 million who are economically active. So, many people who should be paying are not paying anything. It is the development of taxes that will help the states and the Federal Government to achieve their true potentials,” the Minister said.

She advised tax payers to take advantage of the tax amnesty opportunity to regularise their tax profiles, adding that tax defaulters would be subjected to investigations as well as made to face criminal prosecution for tax offences.

The VAIDS programme, which commenced on July 1, 2017, provides opportunity for tax payers to voluntarily and truthfully declare their assets and incomes before the March 31, 2018 deadline.

The Scheme embraces all Federal and state taxes such as Companies Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, Petroleum Profits Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duties, Tertiary Education Tax, Technology Tax, Tenement Rates, and Property Taxes.

It also covers all back taxes for the last six years in line with the statutory periods of limitation under the relevant tax statutes.