The Joint Tax Board (JTB) is proposing the commencement of joint audits by the FIRS and state tax authorities.
The proposal is meant to improve collaboration between the FIRS and the states and also help taxpayers reduce time spent dealing with audits.
The objective of this initiative, according to the FIRS, is to create an opportunity where taxpayers can resolve all their tax issues centrally, rather than individually with different tax authorities.
The FIRS requests taxpayers to embrace the joint tax audit exercise, especially where there are unresolved issues involving both the FIRS and state tax authorities.
Taxpayers that are interested in having a joint tax audit are to provide information regarding their unresolved tax audits and notify the FIRS of the date they would like the audit to commence.
According to Tax Consultants Price Waterhouse Coopers, while this may sound like a good initiative, it is not clear yet how it can be operationalized effectively.
The FIRS is however, keen to conclude any outstanding audits, and to commence audits of open periods within the next few months with or without a joint audit. The expected timeline from commencement of an audit to completion is 3 months with very tight deadlines, which may result in enforcement where the taxpayer is uncooperative.
