The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, has announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the InterPol to combat illegal tax evasion, stop leakages and boost government revenue.
This was disclosed in a statement by the FIRS as the Executive Chairman of the agency, Mr Mohammad Nami signed the agreement on behalf of the FG.
Also at the agreement-signing ceremony was the Vice President (Africa) of INTERPOL, Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Garba Baba Umar, who signed the MoU on behalf of the Interpol.
What the FIRS is saying
Nami said, “We signed an MOU with the INTERPOL. This marks an important milestone between our two institutions.”
The tax agency added that when the partnership is fully implemented, it would open new sources of revenue to the government of Nigeria and also help to plug leakages.
What you should know
- The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) generated revenue of N4.2 trillion between January and September 2021.
- Last year FIRS Chairman, Nami claimed that between 2007 and 2017 Nigeria reportedly lost over US$178 billion through tax evasion by multinationals doing business in the country.
- He added that “many rich Multinational Corporations do not pay the right taxes due from them, let alone pay their taxes voluntarily, As a result, in the last one year, we have created more than 35 additional Tax Audit Units and deployed experienced and capable staff to take charge of these offices.”