Mr Chuckwuemeka Eze, Chairman, Publicity Committee of West African Union of Tax Institutes, has urged the Federal Government to develop internal capacity to have an accurate database of taxpayers.
Eze told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that credible database of taxpayers would help the government to monitor and track tax evaders.
He said that some Nigerians were not paying taxes and were difficult to track.
“Some Nigerians have the habit of evading taxes and some do give wrong information about their businesses.
“With accurate database, it will be difficult for them to evade tax payment,” he said.
Eze said that lack of accurate database of taxpayers had been a major challenge to the nation’s tax system.
Eze, a former chairman of Ikeja branch of the Chartered Institutes of Taxation of Nigeria, said that good records of taxpayers would make the system more vibrant.
He said that the situation was not peculiar to taxation alone, stressing that “it is a general problem in all the sectors of the economy’’.
“Generally, Nigeria do not have credible database. It is not peculiar to taxation alone,” he said.
Eze said that this situation was not good for the growth of any economy.
He said that the biometrics system adopted by the government to capture eligible workers in the public sector was a right step to address the database challenges.