The Voluntary Assets and Income
Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) has deployed over 700 graduates as Community
Tax Liaison Officers(CTLOs) to nine states of the Federation and the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT)...
The CTLOs have been handed the
responsibility of creating awareness about the VAIDS scheme and taxation
in general. A statement by the VAIDS office revealed that the CTLOs,
posted to their various states of origin, will carry out the assignment
in Lagos, Ogun, Enugu, Edo, Cross River, Delta, Oyo, Kaduna and
Nassarawa states as well as the Federal Capital Territory. The CTLOs
were deployed after undergoing an intensive weeklong training on
taxation and customer service in Abuja.
The statement also disclosed that more
CTLOs will, over the coming weeks, be deployed to Kwara, Niger and
Adamawa states, while other states will follow.
The scheme is expected to create a total
of 7,500 opportunities for Nigerians as CTLOs through the N-Power scheme
of the Federal Government
The VAIDS scheme, a tax amnesty
initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with
state revenue agencies, was launched on 29 June via an Executive Order
signed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. It was conceived to provide
solutions to almost every defect of the nation’s tax system, including
the tepid attitude to taxation.
VAIDS is specifically targeted at
taxpayers, who have failed to fully declare their taxable income and
assets or have not been paying the tax due. It is also aimed at those
who are underpaying or under-remitting; those under a process of tax
audit or investigations by tax authorities or are engaged in tax
disputes with tax bodies, but are prepared to settle the disputes out of
court.
A projected revenue of $1billion is
expected to be generated through VAIDS. The scheme is expected to bring
about an appreciable jump in the country’s tax-to-Gross Domestic Product
ratio from the meagre 6 per cent it currently is to a more respectable
20 per cent by 2020.
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