{"id":14959,"date":"2017-06-29T20:12:49","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T20:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=14959"},"modified":"2017-06-29T20:12:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T20:12:49","slug":"fg-goes-tough-on-tax-evaders-regularise-your-tax-status-in-nine-months-or-go-to-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=14959","title":{"rendered":"FG GOES TOUGH ON TAX EVADERS: REGULARISE YOUR TAX STATUS IN NINE MONTHS OR GO TO JAIL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>div dir=&#8221;auto&#8221;&gt;<\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Taxpayers in Nigeria will,\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1371302021\"><span class=\"aQJ\">in nine months<\/span><\/span>\u00a0from now enjoys tax grace period to regularise their tax status or face criminal prosecution for tax offences.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Acting President Osinbajo disclosed this today in Abuja at the inauguration of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He said the scheme was specially targeted at taxpayers who had not declared their taxable incomes and assets, as well as those who don\u2019t pay at all, and those who had been underpaying or under remitting.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Osinbajo said the scheme would cover all federal and state taxes such as companies\u2019 income tax, personal income tax, petroleum profit tax, capital gains tax, stamp duties and tertiary education tax.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cThe scheme will be operated from\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1371302022\"><span class=\"aQJ\">July 1, 2017<\/span><\/span>, to\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1371302023\"><span class=\"aQJ\">March 31, 2018<\/span><\/span>.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cIt will be supported by an executive order, which I will sign into law today to offer a once in a lifetime opportunity to those in default to regularise their tax affairs.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cIn exchange for full and honest declaration, tax evaders will receive immunity from prosecution, forgiveness of penalty and interest that is due on unpaid taxes.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=13612&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cThey will also get the full assurance that all information provided will remain confidential.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cIn addition, participants in the scheme will not be selected for audit investigation for the period.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cWe understand that some taxpayers may have problems raising cash and for that reason, we have built in a system that will allow those owing to pay over a period of time.\u2019\u2019<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">According to the acting president, this is subject to conditions.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Osinbajo said that those who failed to take advantage of the nine months grace period would face criminal investigation and if found guilty may face up to five-year jail term.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He said that the government would immediately commence a nationwide sensitisation of Nigerians on the scheme and tax in general to ensure compliance.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cTo this end, we have agreed that every\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1371302024\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Thursday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0starting from today, and for the next one year will be declared Tax\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1371302025\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Thursday<\/span><\/span>.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cWe expect the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and every state government to organise sensitisation events that would raise awareness of the tax system to ensure massive enrolment of new taxpayers.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cWe must enrol at least 4 million taxpayers and increase the level of payment among the 14 million already registered tax payers.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cWe expect that all state governors will personally lead this initiative and support the work of the 7,500 community tax liaison officers that would be employed shortly.\u2019\u2019<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The acting president said that a high-level team working with the Federal Ministry of Finance was set up 15 months ago to research on tax evasion and illicit financial flows.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He said the report of the team, which was tagged \u201cLight House Project\u201d searched various databases such as banks, Corporate Affairs Commission, vehicle registration numbers and immigration to fish out tax evaders.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">On the international front, Osinbajo said; \u201cNigeria is now a party to the automatic exchange of information which comes into effect in January 2018\u2019\u2019.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cThis means that Nigeria will automatically have all the information to successfully pursue tax evaders across the world.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cSpecifically, we will have information on beneficial owners of assets held abroad, including those in tax havens,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, said that with the scheme, Nigeria hoped to increase tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country from six per cent to 30 per cent.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cIf we pass this test, the future of Nigeria is assured,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">In his remarks, Sen. John Enoh of Cross River Central, who represented the President of the Senate, assured of legislative backing to the scheme.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He said the Senate would pass whatever legislation needed to improve tax compliance in the country.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Similarly, the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, Mr Abudulaziz Yari pledged the state governments\u2019 support and commitment toward the new initiative.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Yari, who is also the Governor of Zamfara, said that state governments would be the biggest beneficiary of revenues derived from the scheme as they would give the FIRS necessary support.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/oshibanjo.jpg1_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-14435\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/oshibanjo.jpg1_-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/oshibanjo.jpg1_-214x300.jpg 214w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/oshibanjo.jpg1_.jpg 591w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">A recent report of the Joint Tax Board showed that only 14 million people out of the estimated 69.9 million Nigerians, who are economically active, are paying taxes.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Accordingly, 96 percent of the 14 million have their taxes deducted at source; this shows that they are government workers.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Also, only 214 Nigerians pay taxes of about N20m annually and about 900 Nigerians pay N10m as tax every year.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters-Senate, Senator Ita Enang and others Presidential aides were in attendance at the inauguration.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>div dir=&#8221;auto&#8221;&gt; Taxpayers in Nigeria will,\u00a0in nine months\u00a0from now enjoys tax grace period to regularise their tax status or face criminal prosecution for tax offences. Acting President Osinbajo disclosed this today in Abuja at the inauguration of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme. He said the scheme was specially targeted at taxpayers who had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/oshibanjo.jpg1_.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3Th","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14960,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14959\/revisions\/14960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}