The federal government is still tightening its strategic efforts to capture everybody in its massive tax net, using the newly introduced Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS).
To raise awareness and quicken compliance to the amnesty-styled scheme, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said government would prosecute tax defaulters who fail to take advantage of the nine-month amnesty offered by VAIDS.
It would be recalled that VAIDS was established in June 29, 2017 via an Executive Order signed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was then Acting President, as a broad spectrum solution to virtually all the defects in the country’s tax system, including negativity towards taxation.
The first phase of VAIDS runs from July 1, 2017, while the second phase ends on March 31, 2018.
Adeosun also made it clear that businesses, which untruthfully comply, would be liable as whatever was paid on the declared liabilities would be considered as part-payment of the outstanding sums later discovered by the authorities.
She said, “The critical question to be asked of all Nigerian taxpayers using offshore tax shelters will be whether all applicable taxes have been paid prior to the transfer of funds or assets to a tax shelter.
“If all taxes had been paid, then there will be no additional liability except tax payable on further income earned on those funds. However, if taxes had not been paid, then the use of such schemes is illegal.”
