The Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), Michael Ango, has created a dedicated unit in the organisation to enforce tax compliance among high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) in Abuja.
Head of Corporate Communications of FCT-IRS, Mustapha Sumaila, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
Ango said the initiative marks a significant shift in Abuja’s tax strategy because the agency wants to close the revenue gap and support ongoing infrastructure projects spearheaded by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
He explained that the HNI unit would oversee income assessments, tax collection, and compliance enforcement while collaborating with government agencies to ensure streamlined operations.
The acting chairman revealed that over 10,000 individuals earning N25 million or more annually have been identified, with notices already sent to them.
He said if they fail to comply, the relevant provisions of the law would be invoked to recover all the outstanding liabilities.
“We believe it is in our mutual interest for HNI taxpayers to comply voluntarily. Otherwise, we will enforce the law to recover all outstanding liabilities,” Mr Ango said.
In a circular signed by the Acting Executive Chairman of the Service, Michael Ango, it was indicated that the Unit would focus on the assessment and collection of income and other taxes as well as oversee compliance and enforcement of tax obligations by HNIs in the FCT. The unit will also be responsible for interfacing with agencies of government and other organisations, within and outside the FCT, regarding the taxation of HNIs in the FCT.
At a meeting to unveil the Unit, the Acting Executive Chairman stated that HNIs are “any individual whether in paid employment, self-employed, carrying on business or having passive annual income of N25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million Naira) and above in any financial year”.
He, therefore, urged all taxpayers that fall within this category to comply with their tax obligations and pay up all outstanding liabilities within two weeks.
“For our HNI taxpayers, we believe it is in our mutual interest that they comply voluntarily and we have identified over 10,000 of such individuals, with income in trillions of Naira, to whom we have started to send notices. We expect that they will respond and comply voluntarily, otherwise, we will apply the relevant provisions of the law and exercise our powers to recover all the outstanding liabilities”
It will be recalled that since resuming Office, as Chief Executive of the Service, Ango, has consistently emphasized the need to enhance revenue generation in the FCT, to support the aggressive infrastructural transformation being undertaken by the Federal Capital Territory Administration under the Honourable Minister of the FCT, His Excellency, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON.
The Acting Chairman stated that he would continue to take steps to ensure compliance by all taxpayers, irrespective of status and enjoined all residents of the FCT to continue to support the efforts of this administration to improve the infrastructure and public services in the FCT and satellite towns by paying their taxes.
