Reps move to establish national tax crimes commission

The  House of Representatives on Wednesday passed for second reading, a bill seeking to establish a National Tax Crimes and Oversight Commission to tackle revenue leakages emanating from non-payment and underpayment of taxes.

The bill, sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, and eight other co-sponsors, seeks to tackle irregularities in the assessment, reporting and remittances of taxes and combat tax-related crimes to plug all leakages in the tax administration system and ensure protection of tax payers’ rights.

Leading the debate on the bill, one of the co-sponsors, Felix Uche Nweke, said while it was one thing to fix the amount of taxes to be paid, it is another for the tax collection authorities and assessors to determine the right amount of taxes to be paid in accordance with the provisions of extant tax laws.

He lamented that leakages often occur when unscrupulous staff and tax agents collude with citizens to under-assess the taxpayer thereby resulting in underpayment of taxes.

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He therefore said the establishment of the proposed commission will help in effectively addressing the malaise as well as prevent international tax evasion and other transnational organised crimes and abuses of the nation’s public finance system.

The lawmaker said the proposed commission will focus on the oversight of the tax administration system ensuring that tax authorities discharge their duties within the ambit of the law.

He said the proposed tax commission will not function as a law court and will not duplicate the function of the existing Tax Appeal Tribunal established in line with Section 59(1) of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act of 2027.

The bill was passed for the second reading after it was put to a voice vote and subsequently referred to the Committee on Finance for further legislative actions.