In its bid to end Nigeria’s high tax evasion, the federal government of Nigeria has announced that even beggars in Nigeria will start paying tax on their earnings.
Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s minister of Finance, made this known at PWC’s Business School in Lagos, with the theme: ‘Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) Interactive Session for Executives and Business Owners.’
She said the Nigerian government will use investigators to ascertain the income status of the companies/individuals. And that the government will rely on information derived from Bank Verification Number (BVN), records of property ownership, records of foreign exchange allocation, and records of company ownership from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), among others.

She continued: “So, we look at your tax returns. If you registered Mercedes E-Class and you are paying N100,000 tax, then something is wrong. Those are red flags. We now have the capacity to assess people accurately. We are trying to build an economy where we have oil and other things. It is going to be oil plus and wider economy”.