The House of Representatives has issued a directive to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to retrieve outstanding taxes amounting to over N5.19 trillion owed to the Federal Government by various entities, including Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), oil companies, and individuals.
This resolution was reached following the adoption of a motion presented on Thursday by Esosa Iyawe, the representative for Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo State. The motion, titled “Alleged non-remittance and under-remittance of tax by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, oil companies and other organisations,” highlighted the significant tax debts owed to the government.
Iyawe emphasized that recent audits revealed a substantial amount owed in taxes by government agencies and companies, with over 5,000 companies and MDAs alone owing N5.2 trillion in withholding taxes. He expressed concern over the negative impact of under-remittance and non-remittance of taxes on the nation’s economy, stressing the need for urgent action to address the issue.
The motion also raised concerns about the burden of multiple taxation faced by small-scale businesses compared to the leniency shown towards states, local governments, multinational corporations, and other large organizations.
As a result of the adoption of the motion, the House called on FIRS to initiate a tax recovery drive and mandated the Committees on Public Accounts and Finance to investigate non-compliance with tax remittance by MDAs, oil companies, and other entities. The committees are expected to ensure the recovery of all outstanding tax debts owed to the Federal Government and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
