ADEDAPO ADESANYA FROM BUSINESS POST
The Nigerian government is planning to increase the country’s tax base by 40 million in an effort to raise its revenue, which is needed to execute some projects and run the economy smoothly.
It plans to achieve this through the collaboration between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Market Traders Association of Nigeria (MATAN).
The two organisations are planning to collect taxes from 40 million traders across the country in order to bring them out of the informal environment into the nation’s wider tax base.
They have teamed up to facilitate the collection and remittance of value-added tax (VAT) from its members using a unified systems technology.
The tax authority made the announcement on Monday via its official Twitter handle, saying this was particularly for those working in the informal sector.
The statement noted that a unified systems technology would be used to carry out the collaboration, also known as the VAT direct initiative (VDI).
MATAN is the umbrella organisation for all commercial associations in Nigeria and has over 40 million traders as members all over the country’s market.
According to the federal revenue service, MATAN is anticipated to “promote awareness on VAT collection and remittance in the marketplace and informal sector, while also simplifying VAT payment and remittance for the marketplace and informal sector using a purpose-built digital platform” through the program.
“MATAN has a digital platform which enumerates their members, giving them a digital ID and tracks their turnover so that VAT accrued is collected and remitted…
