BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, has launched a massive war against defaulting taxpayers as over 450,000 individuals registered under the Anambra State Identification Number, ASIN, shunned filing of annual returns.
Executive Chairman of AIRS, Mr Ikeazor Nnaemeka Okonkwo stated this in a chat with newsmen in Awka, confirming that only about 10 per cent of the approximately 500,000 registered taxpayers filed their annual tax returns for the 2025 tax year.
He said: “If about 90 per cent of registered taxpayers have not filed their annual returns, that is a significant problem.”
To this end, he noted that the Agency has commenced enforcement against taxpayers who failed to regularise their tax affairs, targeting one million registered and actively engaged taxpayers from the inherited database of about 500,000.
The enforcement followed months of taxpayer education, engagement and opportunities for voluntary compliance as part of efforts to strengthen tax compliance and domestic revenue mobilisation under Nigeria’s new tax administration framework.
He added: “Enforcement has already started. We have now compiled the list of people who have not complied, and we are working through the legal advice on how enforcement will be carried out.”
Okonkwo stated that AIRS is contributing to the reform through expanded taxpayer registration, improved compliance and lawful enforcement.
He pointed out that taxpayers who had received assessments, demand notices or best-of-judgment assessments could still regularise their affairs, including through an Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, mechanism established by the service.
“We are setting up an Alternative Dispute Resolution process so that taxpayers who have genuine objections can come forward and have those objections considered and discussed,” Okonkwo said.
The Chairman highlighted four options for taxpayers, stating that compliant taxpayers should remain compliant, while those with valid objections should present them for consideration.
He advised taxpayers without valid objections to make the required payments, while those who ignored notices should expect enforcement.
“Those who have received notices or assessments and have taken no action should understand that the Anambra Internal Revenue Service will enforce the law fully,” Okonkwo said.
He noted that AIRS had deployed direct communication, media campaigns, churches, town unions, professional bodies and other organisations to educate taxpayers, adding that the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme, VAIDS, which ended on September 5, had provided taxpayers with an opportunity to regularise their tax affairs.
Okonkwo maintained that AIRS would not apply violence during enforcement, adding that the service would rely on judicial and administrative processes provided under the tax administration framework.
“There is still an opportunity for people to do the right thing, although the VAIDS period has now closed. We are not going to undertake violent enforcement. What we are doing is enforcing what the law says we should enforce. It will be clean, legal and supported by the law,” he added.
He described the expansion of the tax base as a major mandate of his administration, commending Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo for supporting efforts to strengthen tax administration and the state’s revenue-generating capacity.
“The mandate is very clear: we need to expand the tax base. If we have one million taxpayers who are actively engaged and paying their taxes based on their income, that will significantly expand the tax base,” Okonkwo said.
He hinted that personal income tax was imposed on income rather than business revenue, saying that assessments should reflect taxpayers’ actual earnings and supporting records.
“There is no situation where someone is expected to pay tax on income they did not make. Nobody is being targeted vindictively. It is about fairness. An efficient tax system can only work when we know who is paying and ensure that compliant taxpayers are not placed at a disadvantage,” he said.
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