Tax Defaulters To Pay Heavy Fine – FG

Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun who approved the new interest rate on Monday, said the new rate will be 5% above the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) for the year 2017.

The apex bank in its last Monetary Policy Committee meeting, left the MPR unchanged at 14 per cent, which means defaulters will have to 19 per cent on unpaid taxes.

Adeosun said the review of the interest rates on unpaid taxes was one of the necessary measures adopted by the Federal Government to enhance tax compliance, minimize tax evasion and deter late payments.

“Majority of Nigerian tax payers (PAYE) have taxes deducted automatically. However, those who do not and are required to file their taxes like companies and business enterprises, must understand that there are financial consequences for late payments.

“We believe that this will support our efforts to ensure that people pay their taxes promptly, thus providing a sustainable source of revenue to the government to finance infrastructure and other projects”, the Minister said.

The Minister directed the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatubde Fowler to commence the implementation of the new interest rate from July 1, 2017.

Recall that the Mrs Adeosun had, during the Finance Ministers’ meeting convened by the G24 Group at the 2017 IMF/World Bank Spring meetings in Washington, stressed the need for Nigeria to embark on aggressive tax revenue generation in order to drive economic growth.