‘Accountability By Govt Will Enhance Voluntary Tax Compliance’

The Chairman of the Lagos District Society of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (LDS-CITN), Mrs. Oluwatoyin Campbell has said that the federal government’s recently launched Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) would be more successful with proper accountability on the part of the three-tiers of government.

Campbell, who spoke when she led the executive committee of the Lagos District on a courtesy visit to Chief Cyril Ikemefuna Ede, the 13th President of CITN in his office in Lagos, said the visit was, among others, to further enhance the collaboration with the Institute.

According to a statement, the visit was to strategically position its members in preparation of the recently VAIDS launched by the federal government, stressing the role of professionals in achieving this objective aimed at revenue generation to fund the yearly budgets.

The chairman said the LDS “has the highest number of council membership and can boast of seasoned professionals within the institute.

Responding, the CITN President assured that the institute is poised to also sensitise the public on the importance of the federal government’s VAIDS, beginning with proper training of the institute’s members to appreciate and embrace the scheme, expressing hope that the project would succeed for the good of the nation.

The CITN President made presentations to the LDS teams, after which Campbell presented souvenirs of the District to her host.

Ede received the LDS team in company of the CITN Vice president, Mrs. Olajumoke Simplice; immediate past president, Prof. Mrs Teju Somorin; as well as the Registrar/Chief Executive of the Institute, MrAdefisayo Awogbade, among other council members.

Speaking in Abuja shortly after the launch of the VAIDS by Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajorecently, Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said the Scheme offers a 9-month window for Nigerians, who may have evaded tax, whether ignorantly or deliberately, in the past six years, to pay the correct taxes, thereby avoiding criminal prosecution at the expiration of the deadline.