NFIU, Stakeholders Move To Tackle Tax Evasion, Challenges

The chief executive officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Mrs Hafsat Bakari, said to raise internally generated revenue, Nigeria must have efficient and effective systems in place to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of the tax burden.

She stated this at the first revenue assurance summit with the Internal Revenue Services of all the states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) organised on Tuesday in Abuja.

She said, “There can be no room for tax avoidance and tax evasion.

Let me recall the role of Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) to illustrate better our potential to catalyse accelerated revenue generation. FIUs are created as central national authorities responsible for receiving financial reports, accessing a broad  range of data sources and analysing to identify suspicious transactions and other potential criminal activity. FIUs produce intelligence reports which are used by investigative and prosecutorial authorities to take action against  these offences.”.

Bakari said that while NFIU‘s work on tax crimes initially focused on supporting the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the agency took a further step to explore partnerships with subnational counterparts.

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“This expansion was predicated on recognising that most tax evasion happens at the state level. Our analysis led us to conclude that the data on financial transactions held within the Unit would also greatly benefit the State Internal Revenue Services.

“While international conventions created FIUs to address criminal activity, the same international conventions and standards require that we put in place measures to protect the integrity of the information we provide”.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has said the federal government is considering imposing sanctions on government agencies that refuse to share data with sister agencies upon request.

Oyedele stated this following a detailed narration by the executive secretary of the Joint Tax Board, Olusegun Phillip Adesokan, who explained a frustrating encounter the Joint Task Board (JTB) went through with an agency that refused to share data on request.

Oyedele , in his remark at the event, while speaking on the importance of data in driving revenue, said, “We are talking about revenue assurance.

We need to remember that revenue itself is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It must make a meaningful impact on the lives, livelihoods, and well-being of the people for it to make sense.

“There could be pain and sacrifices, but it would be short term; medium to long term should benefit us. Our economy must be designed to be conducive and investment-friendly. Our policy environment must be purposeful and coherent.

“Let’s not pull in different directions- states versus federal or even within federal agencies.”