FIRS targets N750b from millionaire tax debtors

The Federal Inland Revenue Service expects to pull in about N750 billion from about 55,000 millionaire tax debtors. This was made known on Monday in Abuja by the FIRS Chairman, Tunde Fowler, while addressing the House of Representatives joint committees on Finance, Appropriations, Aids, Loans and Debt Management, Legislative Budget and Research and National Planning and Economic Development on the 2019/2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

The FIRS Chairman told members of the committees that the recent substitution exercise carried out by the service led to the recovery of N23.25 billion.

He said: “From the bank accounts substitution exercise, we used banking information to bring non-compliant taxpayers with N1 billion and above turnover to comply. It has so far resulted in the recovery of N23.35 billion.

“The exercise has been extended to cover those with a turnover of N100 million and above.

“To date about 500 of them have come forward and they have paid and we have collected in the region of about N24 billion. We believe we should be able to go through the 55,000 before the middle of this year which will be the middle of this year.

“In terms of estimates, which we should be able to be able to generate from this exercise alone, that will be about N750 billion.”

Fowler, who noted that the FIRS recorded an increase in Value Added Tax collection between 2015 and 2018, also explained that the Service is broadening its VAT collection scope with the adoption of States Accountants-General collection platform, VAT Auto-Collect, integration of the GIFMIS platform with Ministries, Departments and Agencies and through e-Service payment options.

He was, however, categorical that VAT is targeted at poor Nigerians.