The Senate, through its Committee on Finance, on Monday frowned at the N17tn loss incurred by the country on tax waivers within the last five years.
Consequently, the committee urged the Federal Inland Revenue Service, to suspend the tax waivers being largely abused and substitute it with a rebating system.
The Senate’s objection to the allegedly abused tax waivers came to the fore during the 2024 budget presentation of FIRS to its committee on Finance.
Similarly, the Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji who projected N19.4tn as the targeted total tax collection for 2024, insisted that the fresh N2.7tn Tax Credit planned for road construction in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria, should be stopped.
In his remarks at the budget presentation session, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East), told the FIRS Chairman that tax waivers abuse which has cost the country about N17tn loss within the last five years should be suspended and substituted with the rebating system.
The FIRS Chairman, in his presentation, informed the committee that to save Nigerians from multiple taxation, FIRS in collaboration with a committee set up by President Bola Tinubu would reduce the 62 different taxes to 8.
On controversy concerning the implementation of the Tax Credit Scheme for road construction by CBN, the FIRS boss insisted that the N2.5tn earlier committed to it, must be fully implemented before thinking of any fresh one.
