FG begins training pilot graduate community tax officers

. Set to recruit 7,500 graduates

The Federal Government has commenced the training of unemployed graduates recruited as Community Tax Liaison Officers to boost tax revenue generation.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who revealed this, said 27 Nigerians were being trained as a pilot set for the programme.

The selected persons, drawn from the N-Power programme, are undergoing training at the Federal Treasury Academy, Abuja.

Mrs. Adeosun explained that the selected graduates are being trained in preparation for the recruitment of 7,500 graduates.

“We want to run this pilot edition early, to enable us to see how much they have learned; how good our training materials are, so that when we get the 7 ,500 graduates, we will be ready,” she said.

Earlier, the government had announced that it would recruit 7,500 graduates as Community Tax Liason Officers to raise tax awareness and boost tax revenue among Nigerians.

Through the programme, Adeosun noted, the Federal Government expects to increase the number of taxpayers by 35 per cent, from 14 million to about 17 million in two years.

Speaking at a programme in Lagos recently, the minister lamented the low-level tax compliance among Nigerians, stating that the government would step on toes in its tax revenue generation drive.

Similarly, she also raised concern about the issues surrounding profit shifting, adding that the government would begin monitoring companies that generate profits in Nigeria, but shift taxes to countries of jurisdiction where little or no tax is payable.

She said,”These practices harm Nigeria; these practices harm Nigerians and these practices must stop.”