MEDIATRACNET
To check the activities of fraudsters who specialise in producing and selling fake Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has unveiled an online portal capable of detecting TCCs not duly issued by the FIRS.
Chairman, FIRS, Muhammad Nami, who announced this in Abuja while receiving the Management of the Federal Capital Territory (FCTA) Land Administration described the portal as user-friendly.
“We are not unmindful of the activities of fraudsters who specialise in producing and selling fake TCCs to tax evaders.
“The FIRS has now gone ahead of them as it has launched an online portal through which Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), body corporate and individuals could confirm the genuineness of TCCs issued to them.
“The moment anyone presents a TCC to transact any business with you, we want you to visit www.tcc.firs.gov.ng. The moment you put the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of the company, its RC number, and the name of the company in the portal, the actual Tax Clearance Certificate of the company, if it has any, will come up.
“If the TCC presented to you is fake, you will know. When you come across such cases, you should immediately inform us so that we prosecute such people. The only way we can collaborate as government agencies is to share information”, Nami said.
The FIRS Chairman urged the FCTA Land Administration authorities and other public and private organisations to henceforth fact-check any TCC presented to them before transacting any business.
Nami also urged the FCTA Land Administration management to make it mandatory for anyone registering any property in Abuja to present a TCC.
He said by so doing the revenue profile of the government would increase and be enough to support the developmental needs of the government at all levels.
“You should also insist that before any property is registered, the person or company seeking registration must present a TCC.
“We also appeal that you should not accept the situation where taxpayers try to under-declare the value of properties. You know what the value of properties is in Abuja.
“Somebody should not come up to declare that he bought 2,500 square metres of land in Maitama Abuja for the sum of N1 million when you know that the cost of such piece of land in Maitama is far, far higher than that amount.
“We want you to help us in that regard by disputing values that they may deliberately declare to shortchange the government.
“We want a situation whereby we can collaborate to create a portal where for every land that is registered with you, the details are escalated on the portal so that we will be able to compare the information with the taxpayers’ information in the FIRS. He said the issue of information exchange for the administration of Capital Gains Tax has become necessary because budget funding has become an issue since April last year.
With oil revenue declining as a result of the ravaging impact of COVID-19, Nami said rax revenue from FIRS has been contributing 70 per lcent of the funds being shared monthly by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the three tiers of government.
While commending the FCTA Land Administration for indicating interest in collaborating with the FIRS, Nami said both the FIRS and the FCT Internal Revenue Service require support to ensure appropriate Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duties are charged on assets disposed of, particularly property and land in Abuja.
At the point of registering the property for acquisition, tax revenues realised are remit to the appropriate tax authorities in FCT Internal Revenue Service or the FIRS.
The Director of FCTA Land Administration, Adamu Jibrin Hussaini, who led the delegation of the organisation said they were Capital Gains Tax to collaborate with the FIRS in areas of their jurisdiction, such as a collection of CGT and Stamp Duties for properties in the FCT.
