Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday announced that wealthy Nigerians and corporate bodies evading tax have 90 days to declare appropriate taxes or face the full wrath of the law.
He gave the warning during the 57th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos.
“A personal tax of N20 million implies an income of N80 million a year with majority of them based in Lagos State.
“Tax evasion is not just a civil matter but is also a crime”, he said.
He warned all wealthy Nigerians who had not been paying taxes to do so or be disgraced.
“We have established the Beneficial Ownership Scheme where wealthy Nigerians who have been avoiding paying their taxes have been given a 90-day period of grace after which if they don’t disclose what they own in order to pay tax, they will face the full wrath of the law,” he said.
He said the new approach had yielded good outcome.
“A few wealthy Nigerians have approached us to disclose what they own,” he stated.
Osinbajo had in June 2017 signed an executive order on Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), aimed at facilitating tax collection by revenue collection agencies.
Under the order, tax evading individuals and companies were to be given days of grace to declare and pay their outstanding tax obligations, failing which they would be prosecuted.
The order took effect from July 1, 2017 and would last till March 31, 2018.
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