He disclosed that the service had recovered N23 billion from a closer look at the books of over 45,000 tax defaulters with over N100 million as turnover, promising that it would go after another set of millionaire tax defaulters. To be sure, if the objective of the FIRS is to ensure that all citizens of this country are dragged into the tax net to ensure tax payment, then this initiative is quite salutary. Before crude oil became the prince of revenue generation in Nigeria, tax payment by all adult citizens was compulsory and defaulters were regularly reined in. The tax defaulters themselves knew they were felons, hence their fugitive existence. Beyond compelling these defaulters to pay, it is also crucial to make them realise that it pays to pay taxes.

Source: Nigerian Tribune February 20, 2019 02:14 UTC