To ensure that those holding political offices pay their taxes, the Joint Tax Board (JTB) claims it is working with the Code of Conduct Bureau, political parties, and other stakeholders.
At a meeting with state chairs of the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday in Abuja, Mr Monday Onyeme, the executive chairman of the Delta State Internal Revenue Service, said this.
The meeting was organised by the Joint Tax Board with the theme, “Effective Tax Compliance for Political Office Holders: A Panacea for National Development”.
What they are saying
The decision had become necessary, according to Onyeme, due to tax fraud by some political office holders. He claims that it has been proven that some people who hold political office and have many sources of income only pay taxes on the positions they hold.
- He said the era of tax evasion was over, as the board was putting up mechanisms that would make it difficult for any political office holder to withhold tax on their various commercial ventures.
- He said, “We have resolved that the JTB will put strategies in place to be sure that political office holders comply. We do know that some political office holders had things to do before vying for political offices and there is always a gap. Some of them with businesses outside the offices they occupy, do not reflect it, thereby, validating taxes on them.”
- He said that due diligence would be done to ensure that “Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) being presented by political office holders match or align with the assets they declare to the Code of Conduct Bureau. If you declare this much, we want to see that reflect in your Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC).”
- “We also talked about data for tax compliance at the meeting. We are working in collaboration with agencies that accumulate data to ensure that all tax authorities including Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) make use of data effectively.
- “We are also making sure that the road taxes mechanism is automated in such a way that it will virtually be impossible for a road user to evade paying taxes,” Onyeme said.
