The Nigerian government has stated that no one
would be left out in the campaign to enlarge the tax revenue.
She said some beggars were earning millions
and that “proceeds from begging are taxable. You are supposed to pay taxes even
if your means of income is begging”.
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said
this in Lagos at a lecture at PWC’s Business School, with the theme: ‘Voluntary
Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) Interactive Session for Executives
and Business Owners.’
She said to ascertain the income status of the
companies/individuals and their lifestyle, investigators would rely on
information derived from Bank Verification Number (BVN), records of property
ownership, records of foreign exchange allocation, and records of company
ownership from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), among others.
Adeosun said: “We are using some firms to
trace assets internationally.The investigators’ findings will enable us to
compare the income and how much tax the company/person is really paying, and
that gives us lots of information.
But we encourage people to come up and pay
their taxes willingly. You can register a high-end car. It tells me something
about your income.
“So, we look at your tax returns. If you
registered Mercedes E-Class and you are paying N100,000 tax, then something is
wrong. Those are red flags. We now have the capacity to assess people
accurately.
“We are trying to build an economy where we
have oil and other things. It is going to be oil plus and wider economy”.
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