No hiding place for tax defaulters as states, FIRS, Joint Tax Board reach agreement

High net worth individuals who have been avoiding tax will find it harder to hide as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Joint Tax Board will start sharing data. This means that people who have been dodging taxes will have no place to hide as their names will have to be in either one of the tax databases. Defaulters would be made to pay up arrears of taxes. The Joint Tax Board comprises representatives of the FIRS, state boards of internal revenue, FRSC, Customs, and Attorney General of the Federation.

In furtherance of this, both the FIRS and JTB will compare their databases to make sure they align. This could also lead to enhanced revenue for both tiers of government. Government has increasingly focused on boosting non oil revenue as a drop in crude oil prices and production figures dropped last year, pushing the economy into a recession.

State governments can also go after taxes on assets owned by these individuals within their jurisdiction. Prior to this, several state governments have been hamstrung due to lack of a database. The Federal Government had in July last month launched its Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), a 9 month tax amnesty programme for individuals and companies who have not been paying taxes. Under VAIDS, interest and penalties for unpaid taxes would be waived. Twelve states have signed a memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government on VAIDS.