N6.5tn tax revenue overstated – Expert

monjola sotubo

April 28, 2015 3:52 PM

Taiwo Oyedele, Head of Tax at PricewaterCooper Nigeria, blamed the incorrect data on the nation’s poor tax reporting system.

Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service, Samuel Ogungbesan

A tax expert in Nigeria has said that the N6.5 trillion reported as total tax revenue in the country is over stated.

Taiwo Oyedele, Head of Tax at PricewaterCooper Nigeria, blamed the incorrect data on the nation’s poor tax reporting system.

Explaining further, Oyedele said that the amount reported as tax revenue included tax refunds and credits due to taxpayers, which should not have been included in the final figure.

He made the statements in Lagos on April 23, 2015 during the Nigeria South Africa Breakfast Forum entitled: ‘The evolving tax and regulatory landscape: Implications for business and investment growths.’

“Nigeria currently ranks 179 out of 189 economies on the ease of paying taxes. Poor tax reporting makes the real tax collection overstated. If tax revenue is properly reported, then Nigeria will most likely be the country with lowest tax to the GDP ratio in the world,” Oyedele said.

He however said that despite Nigeria’s poor tax reporting system, the country’s tax to Gross Domestic Product still ranked the fourth lowest in the world and the second lowest in Africa.

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