The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria has blamed the trust deficit on the Government as the reason Nigerians do not pay taxes.
President of the CITN, Mr. Samuel Agbeluyi disclosed this recently at the formal commissioning of ‘The David Olorunleke House’, CITN, Abuja Liaison Office in Abuja.
He stressed that Nigerians were not seeing the dividend of their tax on infrastructural development in Nigeria, which is why the citizenry is unwilling to pay tax.
According to him, the Government must work to gain Nigerians’ confidence and ensure tax compliance.
“The question of the billions paid by Nigerians as tax could not be felt, and how it affects citizens’ obligation to pay taxes is a major issue in our system. This is arising from the trust deficit we have within the system.
“That is part of our advocacy. We tell the federal and subnational governments that whatever they collect, they should use it for the good of the people. By the time you do that, we build the confidence which has been eroded over the years.
“Once we build the confidence, people will come and do what we call voluntary compliance. Once there is voluntary compliance, the cost of collection will reduce, and we’ll get more money for public expenditure”, he said.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service said it collected N12 trillion in 2023 and plans to achieve the N19 trillion revenue collection target in 2024.
In the first quarter of 2024 alone, FIRS said it had collected N3.94 trillion in tax revenue.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have continued to lament infrastructural deficits nationwide.
