By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria is said to be losing about $10 billion of tax through illicit profit shifting by multinational corporations operating in the country according to Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Mr Muhammad Nani.
The Executive Chairman who disclosed this on Friday in Abuja at the start of the Service’s 2020 Management Retreat held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel said the amount would have been applied to critical infrastructure development by the three tiers of government.
Quoting the African Union Illicit Financial Flow Report, Nami said: “Africa is losing $50 billion through profit shifting by Multinational Corporations and about $10 billion of this amount is from Nigeria alone.”
To block this and other identified tax avoidance schemes by individuals and corporate organizations, Nami disclosed that he has launched a comprehensive, ongoing tax collection reform process “anchored on four cardinal pillars of rebuilding FIRS’ institutional framework; robust collaboration with stakeholders; building a customer or taxpayer-centric Institution; and a making the FIRS data-centric institution.”
According to a statement by FIRS Director of Communications, Abdullahi Ismaila, the FIRS Chairman, the board and management teams have also set a target of improving the Service’s performance over the next four years by a “minimum target of $5 million staff-to-revenue- ration and a 10% tax-to-GDP ratio.”
Contending that the FIRS is gradually weaning Nigeria off its dependence on oil revenue, Nami disclosed that non-oil taxes “accounted for 60% contribution to the total collection” of taxes in 2019.
On FRIS plans for this year, Nami stated: “For the year 2020, we have a target of N8.5 trillion. This is broken down into an oil tax of N3.7 trillion and non-oil taxes target of N4.8 trillion.”
The FIRS boss assured that the Service would play its “strategic role in the nation’s political economy, including supporting the actualization of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s commitment of moving the country upon the Ease of Doing Business Ranking and taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years and rebuilding Nigeria’s critical infrastructure.”
