Zacch Adedeji, the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has ordered foreign businesses that export crude oil from Nigeria to make sure that all tax regulations in the nation are strictly adhered to in their business activities.
Adedeji delivered the keynote address on Monday at a workshop on the taxation of non-resident shipping businesses held in Lagos by the FIRS and the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS).
He stated that as part of efforts to expand the tax net and increase government revenue, FIRS started a tax compliance exercise on the operations of international shipping companies that were removing hydrocarbons from Nigeria.
According to a statement made by his special adviser on media, Dare Adekanmbi, the chairman of the FIRS assured the foreign corporations that the agency was not seeking to disrupt their activities, but rather merely interested in ensuring compliance with existing tax regulations.
Foreign companies operating in Nigeria's shipping and aviation industries are mandated under Section 14 of the Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) 2004 (as amended) to file tax returns in order to maintain their commercial operations within the nation.
Adedeji, who served as President Bola Tinubu's Special Advisor on Revenue before being named FIRS chairman, reminded the businesses of how his earlier intervention had resulted in the six-month grace period that was granted to them to regularize their tax returns.
The deadline for foreign shipping businesses to align their records with FIRS is December 31st of this year.
He clarified that the goal of the workshop was to address issues related to foreign corporations' tax compliance and come up with a long-term solution.
“The federal government has set a target of increasing Nigeria’s tax to GDP ratio to 18 per cent within the next three years.
“The goal is to achieve this without imposing additional taxes but by broadening the tax net. The compliance exercise on international shipping companies lifting crude oil from Nigeria is in line with this strategy of broadening the tax net.
