Nigerian Government says it has begun investigation into over 200 whistleblowing tips on tax officials and taxpayers which involves under declaration of taxes and demand of gratifications.
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, disclosed this on Sunday in Abuja while presiding over the meeting of the Whistleblower Unit in the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA).
She confirmed that the Federal Ministry of Finance had secured the suspension of two senior Tax Officials in Delta and Benue States based on verified tips from whistleblowers.
The Minister said, “The Ministry is currently analysing over 200 additional whistleblowing tips including recordings between tax officials and potential taxpayers in which various practices, designed to reduce tax payable, were detailed.
“These practices include demands for personal gratification by tax officers, promises to procure backdated tax clearance certificates, and offers to conspire to reduce taxes payable.
“Encouraging our citizens to pay taxes is a matter of law but it is also a matter of trust. Those who work in our tax offices must therefore demonstrate the highest level of integrity.
“The Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari understands that to reduce our reliance on oil means every citizen must pay their taxes as and when due.
“However, people will not be encouraged to pay if they believe that those involved in the assessment are not transparent or are dishonest. We will continue to sanitise the system and also improve our controls,” the Minister stated.
The Minister enjoined members of the public to desist from the procurement of tax certificates that were not consistent their true income.
She warned against relying on such documents and therefore advised those who might have procured such tax certificates in the past to take advantage of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) to regularise their tax profile.
“We have cases of procurement of tax clearance certificates with no corresponding records or assessments in the tax offices”, Adeosun said.
“In such cases, although payments have been made but there are no underlying assessment. So automatically, we will flag such companies for investigation.
“The data analysis being undertaken within the Federal Ministry of Finance is readily exposing those who have obtained tax clearance certificates that are either forged or are not consistent with their true income levels.”
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