FIRS announces 35 new Tax Audit Units to address illicit financial flow in Nigeria

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced the creation of 35 new Tax Audit Units to combat illicit financial flow across the country.

The FIRS Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Nami, also disclosed that Nigeria lost $178 billion through tax evasion of foreign multinationals between 2007-2017.

READ: FIRS boss, Nami discloses why FIRS failed to meet revenue target under Fowler 

This was disclosed by Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Mr Abdullahi Ahmad, in a statement in Abuja on Monday.

FIRS said that creation of the units was also in a bid to improve tax compliance in the country, citing the Chairman’s statements at a workshop in Abuja on Monday on “Effective Audit of Multinational Corporations for Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in Nigeria.”

READ: FIRS inaugurates online portal for financial institutions in the country

The FIRS Chief noted that a few multinational firms were leading in tax compliance in Nigeria, however, he also noted that a lot of multinationals are not paying their fair share of tax and don’t even do it voluntarily.

The FIRS Chairman also disclosed that Nigeria lost $178 billion  through tax evasion of Multinationals operating in Nigeria, citing a 2014 report by High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, stating that Nigeria accounts for 30.5% of illicit financial flows in Africa.

READ: Finance Bill to use banks as agents to tax Nigerians 

Nami said:

• “At the FIRS, we are paying greater attention to tax audit in general and Transfer Pricing audit in particular in order to improve the level of tax compliance in the country. As a result, in the last one year, we have created more than 35 additional Tax Audit Units and deployed experienced and capable staff to take charge of these offices.”

READ: FIRS set to sell properties of tax defaulters

What you should know 

• Nairametrics reported that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) disclosed that its waivers on penalties and interest on outstanding taxes arising from desk examinations, audit exercises, investigations, or all other forms of tax assessment closed on December 31, 2020.
• The Service raked in the total sum of N4.178 trillion as revenue out of the personal target of N4.239 trillion – 98.6% of the revenue goal for 2020.