TheCable

The federal government says it will publish a report on all the individuals and organisations that received tax exemptions and rebates in 2019.

Speaking when presenting the 2021 budget at the national assembly on Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari said the report will contribute to public discussion on the use of tax policies.

Tax rebate represents a refund of monies already paid to the government as taxes while exemptions mean that the party has not paid any tax.

“In compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, we will prepare and publish, a tax expenditures Statement for 2019,” Buhari said.

“The 2019 statement will be the first of these annual statements, setting out the estimated cost of tax exemptions, incentives and rebates provided under Nigeria’s revenue and other laws.

“The 2019 statement is expected to contribute to public discussion on the use of our tax policies and system to achieve socio-economic development.”

There have been campaigns and efforts to encourage tax compliance in Nigeria to increase revenue for the federal government.

Some international agencies including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ActionAid have said Nigeria is losing a lot of tax revenue to tax rebates and exemptions.

There are various tax incentives in Nigeria to encourage investments and relieve the tax burden on small and medium scale enterprises.

One of such is the pioneer status incentive that exempts companies from certain industries from company income tax for an initial period of three years with the possibility of an extension for one or two years.

In August, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said the government is losing revenue to tax waivers been granted to undeserving companies.