Jonathan Nwokpor
The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria has attributed Nigerians’ failure to pay taxes to a lack of trust in the government.
CITN President Mr. Samuel Agbeluyi recently revealed this during the official commissioning of ‘The David Olorunleke House,’ CITN, Abuja Liaison Office in Abuja.
He emphasized that the reason Nigerians are reluctant to pay taxes is that they need to see the benefits of their taxes being spent on the country’s infrastructure development.
He said that in order to assure tax compliance and win over Nigerians, the government needed to put in more effort.
“The question of the billions paid by Nigerians as tax could not be felt, and how it affects citizens’ obligation to pay taxes is a major issue in our system. This is arising from the trust deficit we have within the system.
“That is part of our advocacy. We tell the federal and subnational governments that whatever they collect, they should use it for the good of the people. By the time you do that, we build the confidence which has been eroded over the years.
“Once we build the confidence, people will come and do what we call voluntary compliance. Once there is voluntary compliance, the cost of collection will reduce, and we’ll get more money for public expenditure”, he said.
According to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, it brought in N12 trillion in revenue in 2023 and intends to surpass the N19 trillion revenue target in 2024.
FIRS reported that it had earned N3.94 trillion in tax revenue in just the first quarter of 2024.
Meanwhile, Nigerians haven’t stopped lamenting the lack of infrastructure in their country.
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