President Tinubu’s government announces the value added tax direct initiative that will enable FG collect taxes from the informal sector.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government has announced the Value Added Tax Direct Initiative to enable federal Government collect taxes from the informal sector. The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, disclosed this in a statement through its Twitter handle yesterday. It noted that, The 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.

The statement added that, such move 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 1.18 trillion naira 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 49.85 trillion naira.