FG nets N23bn from VAIDS in 2017

THE Federal Government netted a total N23 billion from Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) as at the end of 2017 according to data obtained from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

However, the agency said in a statement on Monday that government expects much more revenue from the scheme in 2018.

The scheme, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance that provides a time-limited window for taxpayers with undisclosed income and assets to regularize their tax status, according to Mr. Tunde Fowler, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had earned the Federal Government N17 billion by early December and another N6billion by the end of the year.

The scheme, which terminates on 31 March, has been widely lauded as the solution to the meagre Tax-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of the country, which currently stands at 6 per cent, and bring more tax revenue for national development by arresting the trend of near-total dependence on oil revenues, which have shrunk following the dip in international oil prices.

Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Minister for Finance, in December, said the many individuals and corporate organizations with undeclared taxes have been approaching tax authorities and expressing interest in declaring and paying up their taxes.

Towards its implementation, the VAIDS office, beginning from October, has been harvesting financial data of taxpayers through the cooperation of states, revenue-generating agencies of government such as the FIRS, Nigerian National Petroleum  Corporation (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and the National Communications Commission (NCC).

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Data obtained from the agencies will be used to determine companies that have failed to remit taxes on earned income, those with undeclared assets and corporate organizations that have collected taxes on behalf of government without remitting.

State governments and the authority of the Federal Capital Territory have also shown support for the scheme by volunteering to provide transaction data necessary to identify defaulters.

The VAIDS office in addition to a variety of technological tools and international information-sharing agreements will rely on data on contracts and transactions above N50 million obtained from the Nigerian Customs Service, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM).

Such data are currently being matched with those obtained from the FIRS, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and Government Integrated Financial and Management Information Systems (GIFMIS) to determine companies that have not been paying taxes.