GOVERNMENT UNCOVERS 130,000 PERSONS, FIRMS UNDERPAYING TAX

The Federal Government's data mining efforts have identified a new batch of over 130,000 individuals and companies with potential tax underpayments.

The  Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, broke the news yesterday while on "Good Morning Nigeria", a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme.




The Minister said the list was being compiled by Project Lighthouse in preparation for the closure of the ongoing Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) on March 31. Project Lighthouse is a unique project of the Federal Ministry of Finance that combines data from Federal and State agencies and overseas countries.

she further explained that the sole interest of the Federal and State Government in the use of data is in raising tax revenues.

she identified the common violations by non-compliant tax payers 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 Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), charging of non-allowable personal expenses to company accounts particularly with reference to overseas school fees, inconsistency between income declared for tax purposes and the value of assets owned.

she advised non-compliant tax payers to see k professional advice and also consult tax authorities on tax rules.