The Last Days Of VAIDS: Why Taxpayers Should Take Advantage Of The Amnesty Programme

Also for over a year, the Ministry of Finance has reportedly been involved in Data Mining by collating and synchronizing data and information of all citizens (home and abroad) and residents liable to pay taxes, through the integration of the data bases of strategic Ministries, Agencies and Departments of government (“MDAs”) as well as various regulatory bodies.  The Data Mining project has also reportedly benefited from the integration of transactions’ data in the records of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU); States’ Land Registries; Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); FIRS; Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) & Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Treasury Bills and Bank Verification Number (BVN) Policy; Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement  System Limited (NIBSS); REMITA payment platform; Nigerian Identity Management Commission (through the Federal Road Service Corps & the Independent National Electoral Commission); Nigeria Customs Service; Dealership; Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Crow (Asset Tracking); Banks; Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation & Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR); and the Panama Papers etc. 

CONCLUSION 

Overall, we note that the objectives of VAIDS are laudable at this time of the country’s journey to attaining a diversified economy that is less dependent on oil revenues. We equally observe that the scheme is one of the tools employed by the FGN to implement the (new) 2017 National Tax Policy, which essentially envisions a higher tax-to-GDP ratio for Nigeria and better degrees of tax awareness and compliance among Nigerians. It is our candid opinion that taxpayers (particularly those who have defaulted in one way or the other on their tax obligations) have a lot to gain by participating in the VAIDS and those who are yet to take advantage of the tax amnesty should endeavor to do so within the limited period before the scheme expires in March 2018.

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