FG To Go After Billionaires, Trillionaires, Others Over Tax Evasion- Adeosun
There may be no hiding place for Nigerian billionaires, trillionaires , entrepreneurs evading payment of tax in the country as the Federal Government has threatened to come up with a new tax regime that will end their long years of economic sabotage in the country .
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun who disclosed this in Lagos during a colloquium to mark the 65th birthday anniversary of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu lamented that many Nigerian entrepreneurs have developed the habit of not paying tax, dropping the hint that a new tax regime is on the offing.
Adeosun said, one of the strategies the current administration of President Muhammdu Buhari intends to use in boosting the country’s revenue is through tax mobilization.
She said, ‘’It is a pity that Nigeria has one of the lowest tax regime ratio globally at six percent. The only country that is lower than us is Oman. We have so many wealthy entrepreneurs, who have managed to develop habit of not paying tax, we need to correct that.”
The minister pointed out that when the administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu introduced tax regime in Lagos, he became unpopular, saying ‘’when we see the infrastructure, I don’t think anyone will blame him for his action.
“I take this opportunity to reach out to the millionaires, billionaires and trillionaires that you will hear from me soon. It is shame that we are one of the largest owners of crude oil, but we cannot enjoy the revenue from it. Oil has proven that it would be an unreliable source of revenue. The price is unstable.”
She said economic challenge confronting the country requires multiple strings of revenue. The oil has proved that it would be an unreliable source of revenue. The price is unstable.
While assuring that the country would soon be out of the economic recession, she revealed that the Federal Government was already copying the Lagos template to revive the economy.
To make the economy productive, she said the Federal Government recently released N1trillion for capital expenditure, adding that measures were being taken to bring about multiple streams of revenue.
Adeosun said, “The economic template we copied from you (Lagos) is now being implemented for economic recovery of the country and we are not ashamed to say it. The impact of that template is that many of the states are now copying it especially in the area of IGR.”
