Lagos, Jan 10, 2023 – Ben Akabueze, the Director General in the Budget Office of the Federation, says Nigeria lost over N3 trillion in 2022 through the non-compliance with the Value Added Tax Act.
Akabueze said this during an interview on ARISE TV on Tuesday.
he attributed the loss to loopholes exploited by foreign shipping companies doing business in Nigeria, but were not remitting tax to government.
“Some of the new budget expenditure are normally not in the regular annual budget.
“We have the N553 billion the National Assembly missed out in the numbers that they sent to the president to sign, which include money coming from sale of spectrum and licenses of about $530 million.
“There is also a loophole in which foreign shipping companies doing businesses in which revenues in Nigeria are exploited, this is one of the things that the Finance Act 2023 is plugging and what can be achieved from that source.
“With the implementations of the E-custom project that is driven diligently by the FIRS, we expect to see customs revenue improve significantly as the VAT loss to non-compliance is recorded to probably top N3 trillion,” he said.
Akabueze said that the VAT losses could be curtailed and significant revenue growth seen through the continuous technology drive of the Federal Inland Revenue Service. (GBN)
