The House of Representatives has directed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to recover all outstanding taxes amounting to over N5.19 trillion owed to the Federal Government by various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The resolution was reached on Thursday following the adoption of a motion by Esosa Iyawe, representing Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo State. He cited audit reports from 2015 to 2019 that revealed that over 5,000 companies and MDAs owed N5.2 trillion in withholding taxes.
Iyawe argued that under-remittance and non-remittance of tax deprived the country of much-needed revenue, especially in the face of a N9.18 trillion budget deficit for 2024. He also lamented that small-scale businesses were frustrated by multiple taxations by the FIRS, while other entities were getting preferential treatment.
The House mandated the FIRS to ensure that all debts in taxes owed to the federal government were duly recovered and reported back within four weeks for further legislative action.
The FIRS had generated N12.37 trillion as tax revenue in 2023.Â
