The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has approved a one-off waiver of all outstanding interests and penalties imposed by TaxPro Max on liabilities emanating from monitoring, desk review, tax audit, and tax investigation exercises until 31st December 2022.
The action by the FIRS followed complaints by taxpayers who said additional interests and penalties are imposed on them whenever they try generating Payment Reference Numbers (PRN) on liabilities.
In a statement seen by Nairametrics, the FIRS advised taxpayers to take advantage of this window of opportunity and pay all their outstanding tax liabilities on or before the deadline.
One-off waiver: The federal tax agency said it will begin applying all relevant provisions of the law in its recovery effort once the extension period elapses. Part of the statement which was signed by the FIRS Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami, said:
- “The service has noted the concerns expressed by taxpayers due to the imposition of additional interests and penalties while generating Payment Reference Numbers (PRN) on liabilities from monitoring, desk review, tax audit, and tax investigation exercises.
- “Pending the resolution of the concerns expressed by the taxpayers, the service has approved a one-off waiver of all outstanding interests and penalties imposed by TaxPro Max on liabilities emanating from monitoring, desk review, tax audit, and tax investigation exercises until 31st December 2022.
- “Given the foregoing, taxpayers are to take advantage of the window and pay all their outstanding tax liabilities as highlighted in paragraph 2 above. Failure to pay the outstanding tax liabilities on or before the deadline will leave the service with no other option than to apply the relevant provisions of the law in recovering all outstanding taxes due.”
Nami added that all inquiries on the above subject matter should be addressed to the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Revenue House, No 15 Sokode Crescent, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.
The backstory:
In June 2021, the FIRS introduced the TaxPro Max. It is a solution for filing tax returns and paying taxes. Since deployment, the tax agency said the solution has enhanced the ease of paying taxes in Nigeria and reduced the cost of tax compliance for taxpayers.
- “The laudable impact of TaxPro Max has greatly contributed to the efficiency of tax collections and the record-breaking performance of the service in 2021,” the agency said.
However, users have had issues with it, such as the one highlighted above. The FIRS has now taken steps to remedy that.