FIRS added extra 35 tax audit units nationwide

Nami revealed that Nigeria lost $178 billion through tax evasion

Multinationals are not paying their fair share of tax and don’t even do it willingly

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The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced the creation of 35 new Tax Audit Units to stem illicit financial flow across the country.

The FIRS Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Nami revealed that Nigeria lost $178 billion through tax evasion of foreign multinationals between 2007-2017.

FIRS said that creation of the units was also in a bid to get better tax compliance in the country, citing the Chairman’s statements at a workshop in Abuja on Monday on “Effective Audit of Multinational Corporations for Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in Nigeria.”

The FIRS Chief mentioned that a few multinational firms were leading in tax compliance in Nigeria, however, he also noted that a lot of multinationals are not paying their fair share of tax and don’t even do it willingly.

The FIRS Chairman also revealed that Nigeria lost $178 billion ( N5.4 trillion) through tax evasion of Multinationals operating in Nigeria, refering to a 2014 report by High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, affirming that Nigeria accounts for 30.5% of illicit financial flows in Africa.

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“At the FIRS, we are paying greater attention to tax audit in general and Transfer Pricing audit in particular in order to improve the level of tax compliance in the country. As a result, in the last one year, we have created more than 35 additional Tax Audit Units and deployed experienced and capable staff to take charge of these offices.”