The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), on Tuesday, warned residents of the territory who do not file tax returns to do so or face sanctions.
The acting Executive Chairman of FCT-IRS, Mr Haruna Abdullahi, who gave the warning at a tax seminar with the theme; “Reviving the Culture of Filing Tax’’, said that about 90 per cent of the residents do not file tax returns.
He said the service was working with relevant authorities to ensure compliance.
“From our records, the number of taxpayers under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme is about 120,000.
“Half the figure comprises staff of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the IPPIS platform, those working for Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and Area Councils.
“The average number of Taxpayers outside those remitting through the PAYE scheme has remained in the region of 4,000 with a significant percentage of stop filers,’’ he said.
Abdullahi also warned tax advisors to distance themselves from unethical conduct of Tax Advisors who routinely encourage tax agents to doctor records.
He said besides doctoring records, some tax agents do conceal documents required to arrive at a fair assessment of tax dues.
The FCT-IRS boss also expressed concern over the engagement of unprofessional consultants by some taxpayers to prepare and file returns with seemingly wealthy individuals.
According to him, some of the consultants encourage wealthy Nigerians to file as low as annual income of One million Naira to two billion Naira.
He said the service would continue to probe the activities of the agents and consultants.
On the amount of revenue generated over the years by the service, Abdullahi said it had improved from N48 billion it inherited to generating more than N100 billion in 2021.
According to him, within the year, the service generated an additional N26 billion in recoveries of unremitted With-holding Taxes (WHT).
He said that the service planned to increase its collection to N150 billion in 2022 outside unremitted taxes and levies.
Abdullahi said that with the recovery of unremitted taxes and levies, the service hoped to generate a total of N200 billion in 2022.
According to him, the N200 billion projections have been made in line with the 20 per cent registered Taxpayers in the territory.
He said with enhanced compliance by the remaining
residents, the service would be able to generate between N300 billion and N400 billion.
Abdullahi said that there would be room for high employment, low income reduction and enhanced services for residents if the target was achieved.
