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The following are
some crucial information releases pertaining to the EBS-RCM:
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Lagos State has 8million Taxable workers
THE NATION, WEDNESDAY,JANUARY 23,2013
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LAGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola has said eight million taxable adults are employed in Lagos State.
He said many of them are not tax complaints, in spite of various enforcement strategies deployed by the government. Speaking during the sixth Lagos State Taxation Stakeholders Forum in Lagos, He said the governments use of moral persuasion to make residents pay their taxes has failed.
He said; "All tax evaders would have to meet us at the law court to ensure compliance.
The reason is because our population is growing quicker than the available resources.
We need money to execute a lot of projects."
He said Lagos boasts of over 20 million, arguing that existing socio-economic infrastructure is not sufficient for the state.
"In 2006, Lagos population was N17.5 million. Going by the official growth rate of three per cent a year, nothing less than 3.15 million people have been added to the population," he added.
He said the Constitution has bestowed the responsibility of paying taxes on individuals and corporation entities, stressing that some private organizations have been 100 per cent tax complaints."
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LAGOS SUES 238 FIRMS, OTHERS FOR TAX EVASION
PUNCH JANUARY 16, 2013
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No fewer than 238 court cases had been filed against companies and individuals by the Lagos State Government for defaulting in paying taxes in the state.
The government added that it had also reported 14,000 others to the police, which had invited them to make statements. The government said the invitation was a prelude to instituting a criminal proceeding on tax evasion against them.
The Chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Tunde Fowler, who said the government would no longer treat tax evaders with kids gloves, added that the prosecution would request jail terms for the offenders apart from the monetary penalty. He spoke on Tuesday at a press conference in Alausa, Ikeja, to intimate Lagosians with government’s next step on taxation.
He said, “There are various fines for tax evasion and there are also jail terms ranging from six months to three years. We will not only go for monetary penalty, we will also go for jail term.” Fowler, however, urged residents of the state to voluntarily perform their civic duties because the government was not interested in jailing anybody.
Earlier, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, said the conference was to “formally notify the public’ of the government’s intention to prosecute tax offenders, adding, that “in few days, the accused persons will be brought to the court”. Ipaye explained that the decision was based the need to make everybody in the state to be alive to their responsibilities.
He said, “Progress in any society is based on productive people setting apart a portion of their earnings for public goods.” The commissioner explained that since 1999, the government had been fine-tuning taxation in the state.
He said, “After that, we enlightened the public on essence of tax. We are now at the next phase which is enforcement. We want to get the people to take the issue of tax seriously by prosecuting the offenders.” Ipaye said the government would be prosecuting individuals as well as companies. “We already have a fiat of the Attorney General of the federation to prosecute. The law says we should not wait before declaring our income,” he said.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Taxation and Revenue, Mr. Abimbola Sodipo, explained that the projection of the state was that eight million people were supposed to be paying tax in the state. He added that presently, only about two million residents pay tax. He said, “The over two million that were paying taxes was a far cry from the eight million that were supposed to be paying. This means that two million people were carrying the burden of 20 million instead of the eight that should be doing so.”
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LAGOS SEEKS PAYMENT OF N138M JUDGMENT DEBT FROM SHELL
THE NATION: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012.
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The Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue (LSBIR) has urged the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, to order Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), to pay it a N138 million judgment debt.
LSBIR sued Shell on September 12, 2005 at the state High Court, for N182.5million.The money, it claimed, is due to it as deductions and remittances of taxes from Shell, under the Pay –As-You-Earn and Withholding Tax Scheme for 1999 to 2001. Justice Raliatu Adebiyi had ordered Shell to pay the N138, 798,507.43. Shell appealed the judgment. On Apirl 21, 2008, Justice Adebiyi granted a conditional stay of execution of the judgment.
She ordered Shell to pay the judgment sum into an account with the Chief Registrar of the High Court, pending the determination of the appeal. The money was paid. LSBIR (the respondent/applicant), in a motion filed at the Court of Appeal, which was to be moved yesterday, is seeking an order to set aside the conditional stay of execution. Lagos wants the appellate court to direct the Registrar to pay it the money.
It is also praying for an order to dismiss Shell’s appeal “on the ground that there is no valid appeal pending before the court,” or to dismiss it for want of diligent prosecution. But hearing of the application was stalled yesterday because the justices did not sit. An officer of the court said some of the justices were away on other official engagements. Those available did not form a quorum and therefore, could not entertain the case. He said the case and other were “adjourned till further notice.”
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LAGOS TO PROSECUTE 5.3M TAX EVADERS
THISDAY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012.
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Lagos State Government yesterday said that it has received the approval of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to prosecute more than five million tax evaders, failing to comply with the provisions of tax law.
The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, made the disclosure at a news conference held at the Bagauda Katho Press Centre, Alausa. He also gave a 10-day ultimaturn as a fresh window of opportunity for those affected to comply with the law.
The press conference, whish was organized by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) to unveil its plans to enforce the 2011 Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), was jointly addressed by Special Adviser on Revenue and Taxation to the Governor, Mr. Abimbola Shodipo; Chairman of LIRS Board, Mr. Babatunde Fowlers; Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba; and his fianance counterpart, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru.
At the conference, Abiru said the state government’s dependence on the federally allocated revenue had declined to 35 percent from 51.7 percent. He attributed the feat to the drive of the State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN). He said: “Lagos State Government’s dependence on federal allocation was 51.14 percent in 2007. In 2008, the rate dropped to 47.86 percent. In 2011, the rate has equally dropped to 35 percent. This drop was because of the revenue generated through the state internal generated revenue (IGR).
But Ipaye, who was represented by Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reforms, Mr. Lanre Akinsola, said office of the AGF “gave the state government the fiat to prosecute tax offenders in the state under the Personal Income Tax Act just last week.
“This implication of this is that we now have full authority to prosecute criminal either under the revenue administration law of the state or the personal income tax law of the state. Anyone, who is convicted under the law, becomes an ex-convict.”
Ipaye, who decried the increasing incidence of tax evasion, further explained that it “goes beyond the issue of being convicted or going prison. This is because the substantive part will still be paid into the coffers of Lagos State Government.”
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LIRS Boss Challenges State on IGR
ThisDay. FEBRUARY 14, 2012
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The Managing Director, Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, Tunde Fowler has called on state governments to place priority on internally generated revenue (IGR). He said that to rely on foreign grants, loans and federal allocation to run their business would be counterproductive.
Speaking when the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CITN) Ikeja and District Society paid him a courtesy visit, Fowler said: “Without appropriate tax payment and the input of tax professionals like you, no federal or state government would be able to achieve much in this country. Payment of taxes is not an emotional matter; it is our duty as citizens and an act of law of both the state and the federal government”.
He promised to continue to support and cooperate with the institute, to enable it achieve its objectives. The new Chairman of CITN the Ikeja and District Society, Samuel Agbeluyi said the institute now has a functioning secretariat to enable it carry out its functions effectively. “We are therefore set to lend our professional knowledge to the laudable work of Lagos Internal Revenue Service’s (LIRS), Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) and other tax bodies within Lagos State Agbeluyi added.
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Lagos Threatens Tax Defaulters With Prosecution
The Nation,Tuesday, FEBRUARY14, 2012
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Henceforth, there would be no hiding place for high profile tax defaulters in the centre of excellence, says Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN).
According to him, his government is compiling the names of such defaulters for prosecution. Fashola spoke at the Lagos Business School (LBS) Pan African University, Ajah, while making a presentation entitled “A Tale of Twelve Lessons” at the Third Edition of project What Next, organised by the 2011/2012 MBA students of the institution.
At an interactive session with the students after the presentation, the governor responded to several questions including the one on the measures being adopted to capture all taxable residents into the net.
He explained that his administration launched an aggressive advocacy programme on why the people should pay taxes on assumption of office in 2007. Fashola described as totally unacceptable a situation in which people live on the taxes paid by the few, adding that the more people contribute to the common wealth, the better for everyone.
According to him, only 2.5 million of the eight million Lagosians on paid employment pay their taxes into the government coffers. The governor said he has mandated his Special Advisers on Taxation to do a final letter to the defaulters on why they should pay their taxes.
On the Lekki –Ajah Epe Expressway, Fashola said his administration will continue to dialogue with the stakeholders on how to make the tolling arrangement better, saying he will be delighted with the reduction of the toll being paid by motorists.
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Lagos, Ogun teams parley over tax issues, others
THE GUARDIAN, Wednesday, January 25, 2012
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Determined to uphold their peaceful relationship and avoid conflict on boundary matters, the Lagos and Ogun state governments have pledged to work together and resolve amicably all matters relating to boundary demarcations and tax remittance of residence living in the border areas of both states.
Speaking yesterday at the opening of a joint meeting of delegates from both states on boundary and taxation matters at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
Lagos state Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, explained that the meeting would afford the two states a platform to articulate a common policy that would be acceptable and beneficial to all concerned on the issues of boundary demarcations and tax remittance. Stressing the need for peaceful coexistence between the two states, Adefulire, in a statement by her media aide, Tunde Abatan, stated: “Lagos state is ready to go by the law and we will ensure there is harmony and peace between the two states and we will ensure that what belongs to the states is given to them and we will expect them to do same to Lagos state too, through which will improve the existing relationship between us.”
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Gowon Tasks Tax Practitioners on Awareness Campaign
Thisday, May 13 2011
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Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon has urged taxation professionals in the country to increase the tempo of tax awareness campaigns across the country with a view to making Nigerians see the need for them to pay
their taxes in good time.
He gave this charge at the ongoing three-day Annual Tax Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) in Abuja Thursday.
According to him, tax policies are meaningless unless the people see the need to pay their taxes, adding that after paying their taxes, they would in turn demand for their rights.
“It is one thing to have a well-thought through tax system, it is another to have the people willingly buy into it. What this means is that there must also be well thought-through public awareness programmes to enlighten the people on the inherent advantages of paying their taxes and promptly too.
Gowon charged the professionals to raise the tempo of tax awareness campaigns, which according to him would empower the people to demand for the delivery of dividends of democracy from the ruling class.
“This is one area where CITN also has a crucial role to play, for it is when you help spread the work on the need for people to pay their taxes that the work that your members do in or out of government can be appreciated beyond mere
collection and disbursement. “When the people see and understand what you do, they become your advocates.
When they cooperate and pay their taxes, they become aware. When they cooperate and pay their taxes, they are better able to hold government to account. When government is held to account, by the people, public officers become more circumspect and more responsible in the disbursement of public fund.
With circumspection and fiscal responsibility come projects that are more beneficial for the good of the greater number,” Gowon stressed.
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LAGOS: WHY TAXES ARE HIGH
ThisDay, April 20 2011
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Chairman of the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler said that taxpayers in the state got better values in return for the taxes they paid to the state government in the last four years. He also stated that the level of voluntary tax compliance has improved tremendously in the state during the four years tenure Governor Babatunde Fashola.
Fowler stated this in a chat with THISDAY shortly after delivering a paper at the tax seminar organized by Saffron Professional Services Limited in Lagos yesterday.
He said taxpayers in the state have confirmed that they were happy with the state government because they have received more values for taxes paid in the last four years.
“If you ask me of my own assessment, taxpayers in the state and I believe if you ask them they will also confirm that. Also at the annual stakeholders’ conference, they said that they were happy paying their taxes to the state government,” he said.
Reviewing on the improvements in the tax environment in the state under Governor Fashola, the Chairman said it has improved tremendously. Tax compliance has certainly improved because the governor knows the importance of tax payment. He has plans and visions for Lagos and he knows the role that tax needs to play in giving access to the Lagos State government in terms of funding.
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Tax Evasion: Lagos Closes 546 Companies
Thisday, September 13 2010
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The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) said it shut 546 companies over tax evasion between August 2009 and August.
The Head of the enforcement team, Mrs. Afolashade Afolayan, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday that the companies defaulted in the remittance of over N5 billion as taxes.
Afolayan said that the taxes included Personal Income Tax and Company Tax.
“It is the civic responsibility of everybody to pay taxes promptly to the state coffers. Government can only be functional and effective if all tax payers voluntarily remit taxes to the state coffers as at when due without hesitation,” she added.
Afolayan said since the action was carried out on the organizations, 507 had cleared their outstanding liabilities and had been re-opened.
The team leader said that the remaining 39 companies with liabilities of over N930 million were still closed.
Afolayan said that while 335 of the companies belonged to the manufacturing and service sectors, 211 were in the hotel and tourism sector.
She said that LIRS action was backed by Section 104 of the Personal Income Tax law (PITA) 2004, which empowers the agency to close any defaulting organization.
“Several notices and correspondences had been sent to the companies asking them to pay their outstanding taxes but to no avail. It is a criminal offence to evade taxes; henceforth anybody found guilty of this will face the law,” the official said.
She said that to entrench a strong tax system in the state, the government expected all stakeholders to live up to their responsibilities.
The official said the agency did not arbitrarily close down companies over tax default without prior notices and stressed that closure was the only alternative after necessary correspondences had failed to ensure compliance.
She, however, urged corporate organizations and other tax defaulters having issues with their taxes not to wait till sanctions were enforced on them before coming forward to resolve them.
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Non Remittance Tax’s Crippling Economy
Thisday , July 23, 2010
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Holding on to taxes deducted from workers salary by employers of labour has been described as one of the major problems confronting revenue collector in the country.
Chairman, Lagos state Board of internal Revenue (LBIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, disclosed at the unveiling of the agency’s tax campaigns in Lagos. He lamented that many business owners are deliberately inhibiting the economy by not remitting the taxes deducted from workers’ salary.
Speaking further on why Nigerians should be more forthcoming in payment of tax, he pointed out that what the country is getting from oil revenue is not stable and that government at all levels need internally generated revenue to complement whatever incoming from the federation account.
“During the recent conference of the chartered Institute of Taxation in Abuja, the minister of National Planning gave us some figures which revealed that the total oil revenue accrued to the country in 2009 was N3.2 trillion, against the N6.5 trillion received in 2008.
“This clearly showed that the oil revenue want down by 50 per cent in the year under review . Naturally, this implies that the allocation received by the various states in 2009, were reduced by close to 50 per cent, when put side by side with what they got in 2009. “
The chairman, who also disclosed that only 20 companies out of hundred firms in Lagos State were remitting taxes to government as at when due, described the action of some employers being unpatriotic.
Speaking on why the media campaign was refreshed, the new production, which aimed at establishing the essence of tax payment across all strata of the society, will run concurrently with. I pay tax, which was launched last year.
According to him, LIRS has been able to create considered awareness through the various campaigns rolled out last year, and has decided not to allow the tempo to go down.
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Lagos Resolves Tax Crisis with Councils
ThisDay, July 13, 2010
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Lagos State Government has finally resolved its conflict with local governments (LGs) and local council development areas of collectible levies, rates and taxes the councils can exercise jurisdiction.
This became a reality yesterday as Governor Babatunde Fashola signed a bill aimed at eliminating multiple taxation and the use of touts as revenue collectors in the state into law.
Before appending the bill, the governor told local council chairmen and members of the state Executive Council present that the bill was proposed after listening to the complaints of the people.
He said: “We needed to demonstrate that we are serious in addressing the complaints of our people, especially because of the misgivings arising from activities of touts. Citizens who we are supposed to protect have become object of harassment by people who do not have our man-date.”
The law put an end to road block and establishes a state joint Revenue Committee, comprising local council chairmen and state officials, which will annually fix the rates of the approved levies.
Failure to observe the law will attract different levies of penalties ranging from N500, 000 fines to three years imprisonment for various offences like touting, collection of levies without remittance, and collection of rates higher than prescribed.
The law, which the state House of Assembly passed recently, has 15 sections and one schedule which contained the 16 levies collectible by the local councils and the administration of the levies.
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Lagos Moves against Councils’ Tax Agents (MONEY)
The Punch, August 21, 2009
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tional and statutory position to do so. “He warned the local council chiefs against the use of touts in collecting taxes, levies and rates, saying the rates being informed were not based on any empirical assessment, statutory clauses and constitutional provisions.
Ifemade explained that this state of affairs “is contrary to one of the current tax policy objectives of the Lagos State Government, which is according to him is to eliminate the imposition of the illegal tax collectors and agent acting on behalf of the councils. He said the councils. He said: ”The State House of Assembly is currently working on the list of collectibles. By the time they finish with that, we would make the people see what they are supposed to pay. The bill would deal with touting.
“once, the assembly passes the bill, touting will be a thing of the past. Pending its passage, we have reached a census and agreement with all local government chairmen that we will abide by what is in that bill. We will start practicing it the way it is supposed to be”
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PROFFESSIONAL LAUD LAGOS TAX POLICIES
ThisDay Newspaper, August 13, 2009
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Tax professional in Lagos state have expressed support for the state government’s developmental policies, particularly in the area of taxation.
Some tax experts, who spoke with the news agency of Nigeria yesterday in Lagos, lauded the development initiatives of governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state. A past president of the chartered institute of taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Mrs. Adebimpe Balogun , said that Fashola had recorded remarkable achievement in the use of taxation funds, Balogun said that the laudable achievements of the governor and compelled them to adopt voluntary tax compliance. Both individuals and commercial organization have adopted the admonitions of the holy book that taxes should be paid by all. Corporate organization should also support the state government by paying all their outstanding taxes to avoid being chased before paying, she added.
A tax consultant, Mr. Adetokunbo Aofolaju, said that it was the responsibility of all resident of the state to preach the gospel of tax compliance. Aofolaju commended the approach adopted by the state government in bringing all stake holders, professionals’ artisans and religious leader to understand their obligation under the law.
The synergy between government and the tax professionals cannot be over emphasized in ensuring the well being of the society. Tax practitioners are also agent of socio-economic development given their investments in providing social and economic health and business he said Fashola had told the tax practitioners that government appreciated their collaboration and support, stressing that no government could do it all alone.
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FASHOLA: We’re Not Taxing Churches, Mosques
The Punch, July 22, 2009
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Religious leaders yesterday unanimously agreed with the Lagos State Government that it is indeed constitutional, right and proper for the state to ask religious leaders to fulfil their individual tax obligations to the state just as Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) reiterated that the administration is not taxing Churches and Mosques.
The Religious leaders expressed total support for the Government of Lagos on the need for all concerned to fulfil their tax obligations saying both the Quran and the Holy Bible supported the action, while it was resolved that a small group be set up to examine identified grey areas which should not effect the implementation of the non-contentious areas of the Law
Governor Fashola who spoke at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House, Ikeja, Venue of the Meeting attended by leaders of the various bodies of the two main religions urged the leaders to improve the awareness of the adherents on best practices elsewhere.
The Religious leaders, he said, can help in creating awareness by preaching to followers on how some of the ways cities visited have been making headways in infrastructure development.
Said he: “We should all realise that religion is not just about faith but a totality of life”. Our religious leaders should help to improve awareness of the people by looking closely at how these communities we visit during pilgrimages manage their wastes, make their cities so clean and ensure that public transportation works”.
“Our religious pilgrimages to foreign land must also include cultural and social diets and not restricted to only religious diets. We must make conscious effort to know about what obtain there and let our people know. Some of the issues are purely attitudinal and not spiritual”, Governor Fashola added.
Governor Fashola who expressed appreciation to the religious leaders for understanding and empathizing with the Government on reasons for implementing the law, added that it should be realized that there are no perfect laws anywhere as man himself who drafted the laws is imperfect
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