The Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS), Tunde Fowler, Thursday disclosed that the sum of N3.9tn was realized between January and September this year from payment of taxes.
This figure, the Chairman said, was N1tn higher than the amount realized the same period last year.
In a presentation to the African Union High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flow from Africa in Abuja, the FIRS boss disclosed that his agency has discovered properties in Abuja belonging to 114 companies who did not pay taxes on them.
He said the companies disclaimed the properties. Fowler said, “one hundred and fourteen companies claimed they were unaware of the land allocated to them, but the AGIS (Abuja Geographic Information System) has confirmed the ownership for all the cases referred to them and we will soon hand these cases over to the Attorney General of the Federation”.
Fowler said that so far the FIRS has issued 2,672 demand notices to companies not complying with company tax.
According to him, 653 of the companies have started filing returns, adding that N2.98bn has been realized from them.
The former President of South Africa and Chairman of the High Level Panel, Mr Thambo Mbeki, expressed concern that $50bn taken out of Africa has affected the growth of the continent.
Mbeki said, “We are focused on the need for the continent to generate the resources that are required to attend to issues of development. The continent is losing a lot of resources through illicit financial flows.”
