Tax & Business Matters - Nigeria

Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) has been launched

Declare your assets and income honestly, pay the taxes due correctly, then go and sin no more or ...

Today 29 June 2017, the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN formally launched the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). The Scheme will commence on 1 July 2017 and last for a period of 9 months. VAIDS is an initiative designed to encourage voluntary disclosure of previously undisclosed assets and income for the purpose of payment of all outstanding tax liabilities.

The Scheme would be implemented by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in collaboration with all 36 State Internal Revenue Services and the FCT IRS. Government would gather intelligence locally and through various international conventions and multilateral agreements to obtain information required for prosecution of defaulting taxpayers or those who make false declarations. An international forensic and asset tracing company has been engaged to support this process. 

Read more from the attached one-pager alert.

Download PwC Tax Alert_Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS)_29 June 2017

Nigeria to sign OECD’s Multilateral Instrument that will automatically amend its existing tax treaties

On 14 June 2017, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a memo submitted by the Minister of Finance seeking Nigeria’s inclusion as a signatory to the OECD’s Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“Multilateral Instrument” or “MLI”).

FEC’s approval implies that Nigeria is now closer to joining 68 other countries that are signatories to the MLI. The MLI aims to automatically amend existing bilateral treaties to include measures that tackle base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) through tax treaties.

Read our alert for details.

Download Tax Alert_Nigeria to sign Multilateral Convention on Tax Treaties_MLI