FIRS denies granting N16trn tax waivers to Dangote, Lafarge, Honeywell

FIRS Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Muhammad Nami, has said the mandate of the FIRS is to collect taxes that are due to the federation and the Federal Government, saying it is not to grant tax waivers to any taxpayer in the country.

Nami said this in a reaction to the reports making the rounds that some companies, including Dangote Sinotruck Limited, Lafarge, and Honeywell, among others had been granted tax waiver on pioneer status between 2019 and 2021 in the sum of N16 trillion by the FIRS and other Federal Government agencies.

Reacting, the FIRS boss, in a statement issued on Monday by his Special Assistant, Johannes Wojuola, said: “FIRS does not have the power or responsibility of facilitating or even implementing tax waivers to investors in Nigeria. There are relevant agencies of government that are charged with such responsibility.”

He added that the Service was not unmindful of the objectives of granting tax waivers to investors, which he said include “helping to grow local companies, stimulate economic growth, and earn investors’ confidence”.

Nami further expressed confidence that the companies which “are now enjoying tax breaks will eventually exit shortly and begin to pay taxes to the Federal Government as is currently being done by the companies that have equally enjoyed such tax breaks in the past and are now paying taxes in hundreds of billions of naira. Such companies will continue to pay taxes to the government so long as they remain in business.

“The companies enjoying the Pioneer Status will be exempted from paying only the Direct Taxes (eg CIT, EDT) from their profits but will continue to act as agents of collecting and remitting Indirect Taxes (eg VAT, WHT) in the ordinary course of their operations.”

The FIRS boss noted that he remains focused on the “task of achieving the mandate of the Service which is to assess, collect, and account for taxes due to the federation and the Federal Government.

He said the task “is challenging, more so at this time of global economic disruption occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine war and the Pandemic. However, the Management is steadfast in achieving the target set for it by the Federal Government.

“For instance, last year the Service surpassed its target by collecting an unprecedented amount of N6.4 trillion in taxes. So far this year, the Service is poised to perform even better than its record for last year.”

Nami, however, called on the stakeholders to join hands with him to grow the nation’s economy.

The Star