FIRS Boss Laments Loss of N5.4tn over Tax Evasion by Multinationals
The Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami, Monday lamented that Nigeria lost as much as N5.4 trillion to multinational corporations in the country who evaded tax payment.
Nami gave the period to be between 2007 and 2017, apparently before he assumed office.
He made the revelation during a workshop on effective effective audit of multinational corporations for domestic revenue mobilisation in Nigeria held in Abuja.
Namii said that his organization has moved to address the problem by creating 35 additional tax audit units last year to check illicit financial outflows and ensure tax compliance by corporations.
But he added that some of the companies have been leading in tax compliance in many sectors.
In a statement by the Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Dr. Abdullahi Ahmad the Chairman who referred to the 2014 report on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa by a high level panel said “Nigeria accounted for 30.5 per cent of money lost by the continent through illicit financial flows.”
According to him, “At the FIRS, we are paying greater attention to tax audit in general and transfer pricing audit in particular in order to improve the level of tax compliance in the country.
“As a result, in the last one year, we have created more than 35 additional tax audit units and deployed experienced and capable staff to take charge of these offices.”
He added that with the signing of the 2021 budget of N13.58 trillion and with the recent decline in oil resources, taxation will play a big role in shouldering the budget performance as was the case in 2020.
Nami gave the period to be between 2007 and 2017, apparently before he assumed office.
He made the revelation during a workshop on effective effective audit of multinational corporations for domestic revenue mobilisation in Nigeria held in Abuja.
Namii said that his organization has moved to address the problem by creating 35 additional tax audit units last year to check illicit financial outflows and ensure tax compliance by corporations.
But he added that some of the companies have been leading in tax compliance in many sectors.
In a statement by the Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Dr. Abdullahi Ahmad the Chairman who referred to the 2014 report on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa by a high level panel said “Nigeria accounted for 30.5 per cent of money lost by the continent through illicit financial flows.”
According to him, “At the FIRS, we are paying greater attention to tax audit in general and transfer pricing audit in particular in order to improve the level of tax compliance in the country.
“As a result, in the last one year, we have created more than 35 additional tax audit units and deployed experienced and capable staff to take charge of these offices.”
He added that with the signing of the 2021 budget of N13.58 trillion and with the recent decline in oil resources, taxation will play a big role in shouldering the budget performance as was the case in 2020.
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