N17bn Tax evasion: Go after defaulting agencies, firms, Senate orders FIRS

*Addresses of affected companies could not be traced – FIRS

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

The Senate has ordered the government flagship tax collection agency, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), to within a period of 90 days recover and fully pay into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), a sum of N17, 690, 341, 565.00 billion, being total of tax evaded by government agencies and companies between 2014 and 2015.

Going by this order resolution, FIRS has about 60 days left, to make the required recoveries and remittances into government coffers.

The unremitted taxes were made up of Value Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax (CIT), Withholding Tax (WHT), Education Tax (EDT) and NITDEF.

The Senate decision followed adoption of recommendation by its Committee on Public Accounts after a thorough scrutiny of the 2015 Audit report, management of FIRS as submitted by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation.

This is as the tax agency owned up to the fact that addresses of some companies that defaulted in tax payment could no longer be traced.

The Senate also directed FIRS to sanction its officers involved in alleged overlapping contracts and splitting worth N32, 449, 743.61 million between 2014 and 2015 while the entire money should be remitted into government coffers within 90 days with evidence of compliance submitted to the Auditor – General and the Senate Public Accounts Committee.

These were fallouts of the queries issued against FIRS and 104 other public agencies by the Office of Auditor – General for the Federation in the 2015 Audit report, sustained and adopted by the Senate.

The query directed at FIRS by the Auditor General on the N17 billion unrecovered taxes reads: “The Federal Inland Revenue Service failed to recover the total sum of N17, 690,341,565.00 billion from different companies in the year under review.

“The unrecovered taxes are made up of Value Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax (CIT), Withholding Tax (WHT), Education Tax (EDT) and NITDEF.

“Though the FIRS in its response to the query said it had recovered N2,879,152, 077.76 billion but actual receipted recoveries made by FIRS was N273, 038,474.74million , leaving a balance of N17,417,303,090.90billion to be recovered.

“Several companies were also discovered to have defaulted in filing their Annual Returns, many of which FIRS said could not be located due to change of addresses”.

“The Senate, in adopting the report, directed the Chairman of FIRS to recover the money and pay to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, just as it orders for blacklisting of all companies that failed to file their annual returns.

“Evidence of compliance should be forwarded to the Public Accounts Committee”, the Senate stressed.

On alleged contract overlapping and splitting by some officers of the revenue generating agency, the Senate called for their identification and sanctioning.

The query reads: “A contract for the sum of N32, 667,600.00 million awarded by FIRS, was split and distributed to four companies, whose submissions were earlier rejected, mainly to accommodate the approval ceiling of the Chairman, contrary to Financial Regulations 2921.

“The Audit also revealed that a total of N32, 449, 743, 61 million contracts under recurrent expenditure were awarded by the agency in the 2014 financial year and paid for in the month of January, 2015, contrary to financial regulation 414(b)”.

Angered by the infraction, the Senate in its adoption of the report, directed FIRS to pay the money back into government coffers and submit evidence of compliance to the office of Auditor General of the Federation and its Committee on Public Accounts.