Ogun Moves To Generate N40bn From Informal Sector
The Ogun State Government says it has put up an effective tax collection mechanism to drag people from the informal sector of the economy into tax net, thereby, generating over N40 billion revenue in a year.
The statement was made through the state-owned Internal Revenue Service against the backdrop of the recently launched Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Speaking during a tax walk to some markets and motor parks in Abeokuta, the Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service, Mr Kunle Adeosun, declared that several strategies are being evolved to quadruple revenue collection by generating additional N40 billion revenue into state coffers in the next one year.
He said, “Our target in the informal sector is to at least quadruple what we get in PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn) because that is where the volume is. In Ogun state, the population is put at about seven million and out of those seven million, taxable people under the Informal sector is roughly put at 40 percent of the population.
“Minimum tax payable here is N3,100 and if we can get the people in the informal sector to pay their dues, we will generate over N40 billion in one year”, he concluded.
While asking residents to show better understanding with the government as the scheme gradually takes effect, Mr Adeosun said that residents should be taken the advantage of the time-limited opportunity to regularize their tax status as the state government will apply the full weight of the law against defaulters
”The federal government launched the Tax Thursday about three weeks ago. Part of the scheme is to run enlightenment on Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme. Every Thursday has now been designated as Tax Thursday until next week when the amnesty programme ends.”
”In all locations, we will be running this every Thursday just to make sure that we draw more enlightenment for people to come and file all the assets and income they have not declared in the past and to take advantage of this amnesty programme,” he said
He explained that the government is not only targeting the informal sector but everyone that has assets and income they have not declared in the past.
“Even if you are a payee, where you pay your tax but have other investment income like a gas station or rentals, you are supposed to pay taxes on those other businesses in addition to the payee deductions,” he said.
”There is punishment for defaulters but if you come and declare voluntarily during the 9 months tenure of this scheme which is from June 2017 to March 2018, you will not be penalized but once the scheme ends, then we are back to the enabling law which allows for penalty, interest, tax investigations and criminal prosecution for tax offences.”
Source: Business day
