COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 147TH MEETING OF THE JOINT TAX BOARD HELD ON 25TH MARCH 2021 AT THE HOTEL SEVENTEEN, KADUNA, KADUNA STATE

The theme of the meeting was “Strategic Initiatives for Sustainable Revenue Generation: Prospects, Challenges and Next Steps”.

The Board deliberated on various issues and adopted the following resolutions:

1. That it is imperative for States to codify and harmonise their taxes and levies to ease tax compliance, eradicate multiplicity of taxes, promote ease of doing business, and attract more investment opportunities, which will in turn boost revenue generation.
2. That the Joint Tax Board (JTB) develops a workplan with specific tasks, responsibilities, and timelines, for the implementation of the “Data for Tax Initiative” leveraging the use of technology and tax intelligence to counter tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance by individuals, businesses, and public enterprises.
3. That the JTB engage with the Executive Governors of all the States to support the automation of the tax processes in their States, and to ensure that all State revenue authorities are integrated with the JTB database before the end of the second quarter of 2021.
4. That the JTB identifies all relevant data points, data owners and key stakeholders including government agencies, private sector organizations and other institutions for collaboration on the “Data for Tax Initiative” to link all key economic activities of individuals and businesses for tax administration.
5. That the envisaged database will provide reliable, easy to access information to determine the correctness of the information declared for tax purposes by all taxpayers. It is also expected to streamline various regulatory processes for businesses and individuals, leading to increased administrative efficiency and ease of doing business.
6. That proper implementation of the initiative is capable of expanding Nigeria’s tax base to cover at least 90% of all eligible taxable persons, with the prospect of increasing the country’s Tax to GDP ratio to about 20% over the next 5 years.
7. The JTB hereby invites all stakeholders to offer their support and collaboration for effective implementation of the initiative, given its potential to be a win-win outcome for taxpayers, the business community, government and the general public.