The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, today signed the 4th Executive Order on Tax Amnesty to tax defaulters. The Federal Government had earlier on Thursday launched its Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) to broaden the country’s tax base and offer incentives for tax evaders.
The Acting President, , disclosed this at the official launch of the scheme noting that he would sign an Executive Order on to approved the new tax policy.
He lamented over the country’s poor tax to gross domestic product, GDP of six percent, the acting president, who described it as the lowest in Africa, said Nigeria’s tax system should follow the global best practice, by ensuring that those with the highest income levels shouldered the greatest tax burden.
VAIDS would grant voluntary tax payers who have evaded tax, amnesty; they will be immune from prosecution for defaulting in paying tax.
VAIDS is a time bound opportunity given by the FG to taxpayers. According to the ministry of finance, the tax amnesty will run for the next nine months, effective from July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018. The Minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, said that declining oil revenues necessitated the need to diversify the revenue based of the country.
From July 1 to December 31, the government would offer “waiver of interest and penalty, no prosecution of tax offences and no tax audit” to all tax evaders who declare their “hidden assets”. From January 1 to March 31, there will only be “waiver of penalty, no prosecution of tax offences and no tax audit.”
“We are doing two things today: we are sending a clear signal to tax evaders in our country that the party is over,” Kemi Adeosun, the minister of finance, said.
The proceeds of this scheme will be invested in key infrastructure projects and for clearance of pension arrears, she added.
