Tinubu govt announces plan to collect tax from market traders, informal sector

 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government has announced the Value Added Tax Direct Initiative to enable FG to collect taxes from the informal sector.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, disclosed this in a statement through its Twitter handle on Monday.

FIRS is expected to partner with the Market Traders Association of Nigeria, MATAN, to collect & remit VAT from their members, especially those in the informal sector.

“A collaboration between FIRS and MATAN to promote awareness on VAT collection and remittance in the marketplace and informal sector, while simplifying VAT payment and remittance for the marketplace and informal sector using a purpose-built digital platform”.

The statement added that “This will also boost VAR revenue generation for the three tiers of government, which in turn means more money to fund infrastructure and social amenities.”

According to the National Bureau’s latest report, Nigeria collected N1.18 trillion as VAT and company income tax in the first quarter of 2023.

The Debt Management Office recently advised that Nigeria needed to increase its tax net to sustain its increasing debt burden hovering around N49.85 trillion.