The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said it has created 35 new Tax Audit Units to combat illicit financial flow across the country.
Muhammad Nami, the FIRS Chairman, made the announcement in a statement signed by the Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Mr Abdullahi Ahmad in Abuja on Monday.
He also disclosed that Nigeria lost $178 billion through tax evasion of foreign multinationals between 2007 and 2017.
FIRS said that the creation of the units was also in a bid to improve tax compliance in the country, citing the Chairman’s statements at a workshop in Abuja on Monday titled “Effective Audit of Multinational Corporations for Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in Nigeria.”
Nami who noted that a few multinational firms were leading in tax compliance in Nigeria, however, stated that a lot of multinationals are not paying their fair share of tax and don’t even do it voluntarily.
He disclosed that Nigeria lost $178 billion ( N5.4 trillion) through tax evasion of Multinationals operating in Nigeria, citing a 2014 report by High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa.
Nami stated that Nigeria accounts for 30.5% of illicit financial flows in Africa.
“At the FIRS, we are paying greater attention to tax audit in general and Transfer Pricing audit in particular in order to improve the level of tax compliance in the country,” Nami said.
“As a result, in the last one year, we have created more than 35 additional Tax Audit Units and deployed experienced and capable staff to take charge of these offices.”