Lagos recovers N20bn from tax defaulters

By Monsur  Olowoopejo
LAGOS —THE Lagos State Government, yesterday, said that it was able to rake in over N20 billion through tax audit exercise in 2010, adding that it was also able to increase the number of companies remitting tax to its coffers from 17,491 in 2009 to 18,148 in the year under review.

This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Taxation and Revenue, Mr. Ade Ipaye, during the 2011 ministerial press briefing to commemorate the fourth year in office of Governor Babatunde Fashola.

Ipaye said, “the fund recovered has provided the state with the opportunity to be less reliant on the allocation from the Federation Account. It also provided the state government with the needed funds to implement developmental projects across the state.”

The Special Adviser added that the state government  through its Internal Revenue Service, LIRS, recognised four individuals and six corporate bodies for distinguishing themselves in tax compliance.

According to him, the N20 billion that was raised by the LIRS was due to the LIRS redefined civil and globally approved strategies adopted to bring more taxable firms and individuals into the state’s tax net.

“The year in review has been interesting one as the Lagos state government continued in its efforts to increase the revenue without imposing a harsh burden on individual and corporate tax_payers.

This we have done by further improving the efficiency of our collection processes and extending the tax net so as to bring in more people who should be paying but were not.”

Ipaye also stated that the state government in 2010 recognized in a special way four individuals and six corporate bodies for their exemplary tax compliance.