The Federal Government has said it generated about N30 billion from the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), according to the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Tunde Fowler.
Fowler disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday at the official presentation of the VAIDS certificate of declaration to chairmen of states’ tax revenue authority.
The VAIDS windfall according to Fowler was championed by FIRS which was “responsible for the collection of 90% of the amount, while the states were responsible for the 10% collection balance.”
He disclosed that the N30 billion so far mopped up from tax amnesty programme is N3 billion higher than previous N27 billion recovered few months ago.
The FIRS boss reminded members of Joint Tax Board (JTB), that the beauty of VAIDS went beyond “financial gains but, rather its potential of expanding the tax net.” To this end he reiterated that the programme has also boosted the nation’s tax database from 14 million to 19 million.
He said that the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), expected to terminate in three weeks’ time had recovered N30billion so far from both individual and corporate bodies.
Fowler said, “Looking beyond the financial returns of the scheme, the impact it has had in promoting voluntary compliance is unquantifiable. One of the outcomes of the scheme, whether directly or indirectly is the growth of the national taxpayer database from under 14 million pre 2016 number to over 19 million in 2018, and we are confident that these numbers will translate into a positive growth in the country tax revenue to GDP ratio when the official percentage for 2017 have been released.”
He expressed delight that some states have achieved significant progress in the scheme’s compliance, which explained why executive chairmen of revenue services of such states were invited to share their experiences.
Fowler urged the State Revenue Chairmen to constantly engage in enlightening tax payers about voluntary tax compliance as a way of building a friendlier tax environment.
He said VAIDS tax certificate presented to states is not the same with tax clearance certificate, saying one can’t replace the other.