FIRS targets N750b from tax evading firms

To boost government’s revenue, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has unveiled plans to generate N750 billion from erring accounting firms in the country.

FIRS chairman, Babatunde Fowler, made this known during the budget defence of key revenue generating agencies, at the instance of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance chaired by Ibrahim Babangida.

Fowler explained that his outfit achieved 78.86 per cent equivalent of N5.320 trillion out of its N6.747 trillion target for the 2018 fiscal year.

The service’s initiative tagged ‘Bank Accounts Substitution Exercise’ was aimed at using banking information to drag non-compliant tax-payers with N1 billion and above turn-over into the tax net.

He disclosed that N23.25 billion had been recovered from undisclosed firms, while efforts are being intensified to cover those with turnover of N100 million and above.

Additional N28.51 billion and $77.83 million have been recovered through regular enforcement from various tax offices, tax audit and investigation assessments, Fowler disclosed.

With the introduction of Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), he said the FIRS, through the implementation of Executive Order 004, recovered N53.04 billion at the federal level out of N92.7 billion liability declared in December 2018, adding that “the agency is vigorously pursuing the balance of N39.68 billion” from indebted tax-payers.