Abuja—The Senate in Abuja, yesterday mandated its Committee on Finance to investigate all issues relating to unpaid taxes and tax evaders.
The committee is to recommend appropriate modalities to be adopted by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to effectively block the loopholes created in the system through Back Duty Investigation compliance.
The Senate took this decision following a debate on the need to improve internally generated revenue of the Federal Government through the implementation of back duty investigation.
The sponsor of the motion, Senator Bassey Otu (PDP-Cross River) noted that recent findings revealed various discrepancies and manipulations by some companies in almost all the sectors of the economy in the payment of taxes.
Otu, who was Chairman of the Finance Committee, said 'Back Duty Investigation' was an anti-tax evasion tool applied by the tax authority in Nigeria to recover unpaid taxes.
He said this was obtainable when there had been an omission or error in the assessment or collection of taxes and where there had been falsification or doubtful claims or allowances or relief.
According to Otu, although the FIRS has increased its efforts at investigating tax cases, the results are still insignificant to the population of all taxable Nigerians.
"Corporate companies operating in Nigeria have undeclared income in terms of Company Income Tax, Withholding Taxes and VAT which forms the major bulk of tax revenue to the government.
He decried the fact that state governments and some Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had failed in their statutory obligations to remit Withholding Taxes and VAT deducted on contracts to the FIRS.
While contributing to the debate, Sen. Smart Adeyemi( PDP-Kogi) said it was unpatriotic and criminal for people to evade payment of taxes.
Adeyemi even accused some Senators of being culpable but Ahmed Lawan (ANPP-Yobe) in a swift reaction noted that senator's taxes were deducted at source.
Lawan said each senator was paying tax to the tune of N250,000, adding that it was an over payment.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary session, stressed the need for the country to revolutionise its tax collection system to enhance development.
He also said it was important for the country to increase its internally generated revenue outside the oil sector.
According to him, it was necessary for the country to build its statistics capacity in order to identify the people who were supposed to pay taxes and were evading or remitting below expectation.(NAN)
Vanguard Nigeria