Tax Evasion: 130,000 Big Shots, Firms Under FG’s Radar – Adeosun

• Economic indices excite FG

BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – Over 130,000 high profiled individuals and companies are currently under the Federal Government’s radar in connection with tax underpayments and evasion nationwide.

This is even as the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun expressed confidence the country is on the path of economic growth given encouraging indices that things are moving in the right direction.

Mrs Adeosun said the number of personalities and firms involved in tax underpayments are derived from the government’s data mining efforts driven by the Federal Ministry of Finance that have identified them among the new batch of potential tax evaders.

She equally declared that there will be no sacred cow when the government flags off its sanctions regime after the March 31, 2018 deadline on the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS)

Mrs Adeosun said the data are currently being compiled by Project Lighthouse preparatory to the VAIDS flag down date, adding, “The data have been received from a number of sources, including land registries of the Governments of Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Ogun States as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”

The data are currently being processed for necessary action under Project Lighthouse which is a unique scheme of the Finance Ministry that combines data from Federal and State agencies as well as overseas countries.

According to the Minister, “Nigeria has been able to request data from a number of nations including traditional tax havens,” explaining that the data have already received from a number of foreign jurisdictions under the exchange of information protocols.

She said that; “Under the exchange of information protocols, this information relates to bank records and financial filings for tax purposes and is obtained from tax havens who are signatories to the information sharing agreements such as British Virgin Islands and Mauritius.”

Praising the ‘unprecedented’ level of cooperation between the Federal and State Governments, Mrs Adeosun noted that it represents a marked departure from past experiences when various arms of government rebuffed synergy in their efforts at improved tax collection.  

On common violations by non-compliant tax payers, the Minister listed underhand practices to include:

• Under-declaration of and non-declaration of income earned including income from Government contracts and overseas trading;
• Collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) which is not duly remitted to FIRS;
• Charging of non-allowable personal expenses to company accounts particularly with reference to overseas school fees; and
• Inconsistency between income declared for tax purposes and the value of assets owned.

She urged non-compliant tax payers to seek professional advice and to also consult relevant literature available from the tax authorities on tax rules. 

The Minister, who insisted on government’s resolve to improve tax revenues in growing the economy and creating jobs for Nigerians, noted that just N1 million could feed over 14,200 primary school children under the Homegrown School Feeding programme while also creating huge job opportunities in the nation’s agricultural sector.

She however ruled out likely extension of the VAIDS deadline, saying sufficient period had been given to tax payers to voluntary and truthfully declare their assets and income which had not been declared previously.

On the economy, she assured that the country is on the path of growth, saying, “Figures indicate we are on the path of growth; moving in the right direction. There is a lot to do, but we must keep the momentum. Overall, we are excitedly optimistic about the economic growth.”  

Nigeria, it would be recalled, had exited recession in the second quarter of 2017, recording a growth of 0.72 per cent.

The country further consolidated its recovery in the third and fourth quarters of last year, with growths of 1.40 per cent and 1.92 per cent, respectively.

Adeosun said, “The Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has laid the foundation for the repositioning of the economy by a series of reforms which are being sequenced to ensure maximum impact and benefits to Nigeria and the citizens.

“These include huge investments in infrastructure and social welfare across the country, improved revenue mobilisation, rebuilding of foreign reserves and stabilization of exchange rate.”

She further noted that revenue mobilisation was potentially the master key to unlocking Nigeria’s huge growth potentials and funding the infrastructure programmes.

The Minister said the Federal Government would continue to create more fiscal space for reforms to enhance productivity and opportunity in the non-oil sector.