Nahimat Adekoga
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said that it added about 814,000 new tax payers into the national database and assisted in capturing over two million taxpayers into the joint tax board database.
This according to the FIRS Chairman, Babatunde Fowler has raised the national figure for tax payers to 14 million.
Fowler who spoke in Lagos at the opening ceremony of the FIRS/journalism.com media training series on accurate reporting of taxation said the service realised N27 billion from the penalty wavers for tax defaulters exercise it concluded in December 2016.
According to him, it is part of the efforts of the FIRS to provide voluntary compliance and shield taxpayers from the burden of carrying forward old tax liabilities arising from penalty and interest.
He said the agecny had invited principal officers, especially chairmen, managing directors, chief executive officers, executive and non-executive directors, chief financial officers and company owners or their representatives to take advantage of a special window to avoid payment of penalty and interest on tax between 2013-2015.
Fowler who was represented by Nneka Ifebunna, a deputy director at the service, said the training was expected to help shore up tax reporting to improve the poor understanding on the issues of taxation.
