FG to boost non-oil revenue via aggressive tax collections – TheNigerialawyer

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said the Federal
Government would deploy dynamic initiatives towards boosting the
country’s revenue from taxation.

He said this in Abuja at the opening session of the 21st annual
tax conference of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of
Nigeria.

The conference, which is the single largest gathering of tax
practitioners in Nigeria, has ‘Unlocking the potential of
taxation,’ as its theme.

Represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Federal
Ministry of Finance, Mahmoud Dutse, the President explained that
his administration was committed to diversifying the country’s
revenue base through the use of taxation.

This, he noted, was the major reason why key reforms were being
implemented in the country’s tax system.

He called for a change of attitude by Nigerians towards the
payment of taxes, adding that situations where people deliberately
refused to pay their taxes were inimical to the objectives of the
government to grow the economy.

He added that his administration was aware of some of the
loopholes in the country’s tax system, noting that efforts were
being made to change the narrative.

He said, “Our tax system must reflect the nature of our
commercial activity levels. Oil is just above 10 per cent of our
GDP but it represents a disproportionate share of our tax
revenue.

“We will, therefore, develop a framework that mobilises revenue
from the non-oil sector. Our tax system must be dynamic in order to
respond to an ever- evolving commercial landscape and to increasing
technology-driven business models.

“As part of our drive to increase non-oil revenue, we have set
an aggressive target for increasing tax collection. This is a
reflection of the fact that the current level of compliance is low
and in some cases, the effective tax rate paid by those that are
compliant is lower than expected.”

Buhari said his administration had been instrumental to critical
reforms in the Nigerian tax system, through the introduction of the
Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme and the Voluntary
Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme.

He said, “On the Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme,
for instance, 5,122 applications were received, at the end of July
2018, when the Scheme had gone through a 12-month cycle and entered
sunset.

“Out of these applications, 1,006 made full payment, 1,613 had
outstanding payments to make and 2,503 fell under those who did not
furnish adequate information on their tax status.

“Arising from these applications, N92.67bn tax liability was
declared. N34.67bn had been paid out of declared liability. The
outstanding liability of N56.81bn will be paid in instalments.

“In all, 16,906 assets were declared under VAIDS. Of these,
3,317 are immovable assets, 13,771 are moveable assets, while 205
represented intangible assets and Investments.”

Buhari said his administration was clear about the overriding
need to use taxation in achieving its objectives, noting that the
government would continue to give its support for increased revenue
performance.