……….. says Nigeria lost over N2trn to tax evasion and waivers
The chairman of National Assembly Anti-Money Laundering and Cyber Security Coalition has urged President Muhamadu Buhari to scrap the fuel subsidy regime operated by former administrations while lamenting that Nigeria has lost over two trillion naira to tax evasion and tax waivers.
Speaking during an event to mark the end of the Coalition in the 7th National Assembly, the chairman of the Coalition, Senator Aloysius Etuk (APC, Akwa Ibom) said contrary to expectations, the subsidy regime has only succeeded in enriching the rich and impoverishing the poor.
He said the regime must be scrapped to enable the funds be deployed to areas that would lift Nigerians from poverty line and improve their standard of living, adding that the subsidy regime has become a channel through which funds meant for the good of the poor masses are siphoned to private pockets.
“With President Buhari’s administration, which was inaugurated few days ago, it is generally believed that corruption and related crimes would be frontally tackled. We would expect among other issues the present government to remove fuel subsidy which is a seemingly conduit pipe for corruption”, the coalition said.
It further called on the new administration to set up corruption courts for speedy trials of corrupt officials and tax evaders, as well as re-position the free trade zones by giving specific tenure of not more than ten years to enterprises to revert to a normal company that will be paying tax to government.
On this note, the coalition regretted that operating free trade zone in perpetuity without payment of tax to the government has resulted in loss of revenue and poor infrastructure, which it said has made the government tenants instead of landlord.
It also noted with dismay that the country has lost large sums of money to indiscriminate tax waivers granted to business organisations, warning that such indiscriminate tax waivers and unchecked tax evasion present grave dangers to the nation’s economy.
“Fighting tax evasion is not just a choice, it is a necessity. It is now time for action-prosecution, investigation and recovery. Investigations should not be delayed in court especially when it involves tax evasion and corruption.
“When there is no respect for rule of law and due process in award of contracts, opportunities are created for organised criminality. When tax evasion takes hold of the economy, it leads to unfair competition. Some capable companies are denied the ability to compete in a fair and transparent environment”, the coalition said.
It added that taking a look at the recent investigations on tax evasion involving some companies like Arab Contractors, Septa Energy, Tower Aluminium, JMG Generators, B. Stablini, Continental Transfer Technique Ltd and others, it becomes more appreciable the challenges facing compliance of tax laws and revenue generation in Nigeria.
While urging the ICPC and EFCC to step up investigations and use their civil authority to strip corrupt officials the proceeds of their criminal conduct, so as to deprive them of the profit of such criminal conduct.