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By Omodele Adigun
The President of Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Chief Cyril Ede, has urged Nigerians to embrace the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) as it has the potential to raise tax contribution to Gross Domestic Product(GDP) by extra nine per cent.
Ede, who stated this in a release made available to the press, also charged stakeholders to be proactive in gathering critical information required to ensure a sustained and robust tax compliance culture in the country.
“Another factor that may appear critical to the success of the scheme is the ability of government and the tax authorities to convince tax payers of the full implications of the coming into effect of the automatic exchange of information regime by 2018”, he added.
He advised that confidentiality of the shared information should weigh more against the tax authorities than the taxpayer in order to compel tax authorities into doing a better job at keeping such information.
His words:
“The VAIDS is a bold step by the Federal Government and tax authorities to improve the voluntary tax compliance rate in the country. It is a scheme the public should equally do well to embrace as it will improve the low tax ratio to GDP from the current six per cent to about 15 per cent by 2020.
“While the outcome of the scheme remains to be seen, no stakeholder should be complacent as this is time for critical information gathering required to ensure a sustained and robust tax compliance culture, going forward. To look back or allow information trails grow cold would not only impact the effectiveness of tax administration, but hamper the nation’s drive towards considering proceeds of crude oil as mere incremental income to the public purse.
“All Stakeholders should seize the moment by engaging in exercises and programmes every Tax Thursday as a symbolic gesture in keeping the tax discourse on the table every week..
An instructive lesson that is not clear whether the current programme has taken on board is the provision for re-assessment by the tax authority where a taxpayer appeals the assessment imposed.
“Another factor that may appear critical to the success of the scheme is the ability of government and the taxing authorities to be able to convince taxpayers of the full implications of the coming into effect of the Automatic Exchange of Information regime by 2018. It is believed that such announcement effect and education of the populace would leave entities willing to come forward and declare.
“The strength of assurance of confidentiality of information shared under the scheme must be such that weighs heavily against the tax authorities than the taxpayer in order to compel the tax authorities to do a better job at keeping such information away from those who do not have any business with same.”
Protocols for sharing such information even for taxpayers under criminal investigation must also be enshrined.”
