FCTA Threatens To Arrest Tax Evaders

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has threatened to arrest individuals, corporate organisations and agencies violating its order that tax clearance certificates be presented before transactions within the Territory.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Muhammad Bello, while lamenting the huge expenditure incurred on the provision of infrastructure and essential services in the Territory, said residents have a lot to gain if taxes are paid regularly.

Bello, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, MFCT, Olusola Adesola, at a town hall meeting on the demand for and verification of tax clearance certificates by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), commercial banks, and corporate bodies before transactions, threatened to commence immediate arrest and prosecution of tax evaders in the FCT.

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“I, therefore, use this opportunity to send a note of strong warning to tax evaders to desist from their actions. Not only are their actions morally wrong as they ride on the sweat of others but their actions are also serious criminal offenses
for which they can face very severe penalties on their conviction,” he said.

The minister, who also pledged to address issues of multiple taxations in the Territory, noted that the FCTA has the mandate to build for the nation a capital territory that is comparable to the best in the world, saying that for over four decades, the FCTA has delivered on that mandate to transform Abuja into a very beautiful city.

“It must however be admitted that if we are to continue to provide world-class infrastructure for the city, we need a greatly improved revenue base which can only be attained by a robust tax policy where all who call FCT home also contribute through faxes to her development.

“We are not unmindful of complaints about multiple taxations and other sundry challenges in our tax regime. This matter is also of grave concern to us and we are taking measures to resolve the issue because it also impacts negatively on our efforts of encouraging investment in the territory,” he said.

Earlier, the executive chairman of the FCT Inland Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), Haruna Abdullahi, in his remark explained that the existing law provides that failure to demand and verify a Tax Clearance Certificate presented by an individual is liable to sanctions and possible conviction with a fine of N5,000,000 or three years imprisonment or both.

“I would urge all residents and relevant stakeholders to choose voluntary compliance over compulsion. I would like to briefly reiterate; it is imperative that a Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) is demanded as a pre-condition for various transactions in the FCT and it is instructive to note that the law requires such from Government Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and Commercial Banks,” he stressed.