Abuja residents and organisations operating within must show their tax clearance certificates to carry out any transactions with the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) and its agencies.
Anyone or the agencies caught flouting the new rule may face sanctions, FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello has said.
The FCT Permanent Secretary, Olusola Adesola, who spoke for Bello in Abuja at a
Town hall meeting in Abuja on Wednesday said residents have a lot to gain if taxes are paid regularly.
Lamenting the huge expenditure it incurs on provision of infrastructure and essential services, the minister threatened to commence immediate arrest and prosecution of tax evaders in the FCT.
His words, “I, therefore, use this opportunity to send a note of strong warning to tax evaders to desist from their actions. Not only are their actions morally wrong as they ride on the sweat of others but their actions are also serious criminal offences for which they can face very severe penalties on they conviction….
“FCTA has the mandate to build for our nation a capital territory that is comparable to the best in the world. And for over four decades, we have delivered on this mandate as Abuja has indeed turned out to be a very beautiful city indeed as testified to severally by visitors to the city.
“It must however be admitted that if we are to continue to provide world class infrastructure for the city, we need a greatly improved revenue base which can only be attained by a robust tax policy where all who call FCT home also contribute through faxes to her development.”
But Bello promised to address the issue of multiple taxation, adding, “We are not unmindful of complaints about multiple taxation and other sundry challenges in our tax regime.
This matter is also of grave concern to us and we are taking measures to resolve the issue because it also impacts negatively on our efforts of encouraging investment in the Territory”
Executive Chairman of the FCT Inland Revenue Service, Haruna Abdullahi, in an earlier remark made it clear that the existing law provides that “failure to demand and verify a Tax Clearance Certificate presented by an individual is liable to sanctions and possible conviction with a fine of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira) or three years imprisonment or both the fine and imprisonment”
“I would urge all residents and relevant stakeholders to choose voluntary compliance over compulsion.
“I would like to briefly reiterate; it is imperative that a Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) is demanded as a pre-condition for various transactions in the FCT and it is instructive to note that the law requires such from Government Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Commercial Banks.”
▪︎ Additional report by National Update.