The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a memo for a review
of the extant taxation law.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, later told
State House correspondents that the memo was presented by the Minister
of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Mohammed said the review was “duly approved” to improving the legal
framework of the taxation law and enhance compliance.
According to Mohammed, some shortcomings were noticed in the current
tax regime which had been exploited by individuals and corporate
organisations to perpetrate tax evasion.
“We have noticed some inadequacies in the current tax regime, and that
these inadequacies have been exploited by both individuals and
corporate organisations to evade tax which has led to loss of revenue
to the government. The review aims at plugging these loopholes.
“On the taxation law, it was a memo presented by the Attorney-General,
and it is basically looking at the policies behind the taxation laws
to see whether any of them needs to be strengthened. It is a review to
see whether there are any gaps”.
Also speaking on the issue, Budget and National Planning Minister
Udoma Udo Udoma said the review of the taxation law would not be aimed
at those who could not afford it.
Udoma said that the review would be aimed more at the affluent rather
than the poor.
“It is a little premature to talk about what exactly the reviews are.
I am sure they would be consulting very widely, and definitely, any
review will not be aimed at those who cannot afford it. It will be
aimed at more at the affluent rather than the poor”, he said.