There may be no hiding place for tax evaders in Lagos State any longer , as the? State Government? has given 10 days ultimatum to 5.3 million tax defaulters? to comply or face the wrath of the law.
Addressing journalists at a press briefing held at the Bagauda Katho Press Centre located in Alausa, yesterday, in Lagos, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Taxation, Mr. Abimbola Shodipo said the state government decided to enforce the law on taxation because of the large number of defaulters in the state.
According to him, of the eight million taxable adults residing in the state only 2.7 million people are tax compliant, and added that the state government could no-longer harbor? over 5.3 million people? who he said were living parasitically on the tax payers, thereby shortchanging the system.
Shodipo who remarked that the eight million people did not include the unemployed members of the society noted that those complying with tax payment in the state included those in the civil service , corporation and extractive industry.
“We are now moving into vigorous enforcement level to ensure that these few do not keep on funding all of us . From today we will ensure we prosecute where applicable,” He said.
Our responsibility as a state is increasing . It will be sheer irresponsibility for the state to allow few people to fund the majority and look the other way”.
In his address the Senior Special Assistant on Justice, Mr. Lanre Adesola said the Lagos State Government has adopted many measures in the past to encourage tax compliance, saying it was a criminal offence not to pay tax .
“That is to violate the provision of the applicable tax laws. The state is now going to the second level of enforcement. And what that means is that we will begin to prosecute tax defaulters and evaders.
“Today is the 20th of March and under the personal income tax law that was amended any tax payer resident in Lagos state must file his tax return for last year on or before the 31th of this month. That is the statutory obligation.
“The implication of this is that in ten days time, anyone who has not filed his tax return with the LIRS has committed an offence.Not to file his tax return is a criminal offence and to also file wrongly is also punishable under the law”.
For employers he said their responsibility is to deduct and remit it into the coffers of the state government, warning that if they fail to deduct and remit to the state government they are liable to be punished under the law.
According to him, “The attorney general of the federation last week gave the Lagos state commissioner for justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye the executive fiat to prosecute tax offenders in the state under the personal income tax act.
The implication of this is that we now have the full authority to prosecute criminals either under the revenue administration law of the state or the personal income tax law of the state. And anyone who is convicted, he or she becomes an ex-convict and it goes beyond going to prison. This is because the substantive part will still be paid into the coffers of the state government”.??
?The Executive Chairman, Lagos State Internal Revenue Service(LIRS) Mr. Tunde Fowler said henceforth failure? to render returns, books, document and information on demand within 7 days has a penalty of N500,000 for corporate organization and N50, 000 for individuals having contravened section 43 subsection 3 of the Personal Income Law as amended in 2011.
He said false statement and returns will attract N500,000 for corporation and N50, 000 for individuals, adding that anyone caught touting or posing as government tax collectors will pay a penalty of N100, 000 or three years imprisonment or both.