The Senate has kicked against the N17 trillion loss incurred by the country on tax waivers within the last five years.
The upper chamber, through its Committee on Finance on Monday urged the the Federal Inland Revenue Service to suspend the tax waivers being largely abused and substitute them with a rebating system.
The lawmakers objection to the allegedly abused tax waivers came to the fore during the 2024 budget presentation of FIRS to its Committee on Finance.
This is even as the chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, who projected N19.4 trillion as targeted total tax collection for 2024, insisted that the fresh N2.7 trillion tax credit planned for road construction in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, should be stopped, according to Daily Post.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), told the FIRS chairman that tax waiver abuse, which has cost the country about N17 trillion in losses within the last five years, should be suspended and substituted with the rebating system.
“Your projection of N19 trillion as total tax collection for 2024 is good when compared to N11.16 trillion achieved in 2023, but the Senate believes that you can do more, even to the tune of N30 trillion, if the required measures are put in place.
“As impressive and encouraging the performance and projections of FIRS are, under your leadership, this committee and by extension, the Senate, on a serious note, urge you to look at the direction of tax waivers largely being abused with attendant and avoidable losses being incurred yearly.
“Available records show that within the last five years, about N17 trillion has been lost by the country to tax waivers. It should be suspended and possibly substituted with a rebating system,” he said.
