The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami recently released a circular on the update of palliative measures to cushion the effect of covid-19 on taxpayers.

He reiterated that during the early lockdown, there has been some palliative measures put in place to curb the difficulties encountered by some businesses due to the ongoing pandemic.

However, he encouraged some sectors like the telcos,  financial institutions, e-commerce, supermarkets, manufacturers/processors of certain products whose turn over rate is not affected by the pandemic to cooperate with the government by paying their taxes. 

Both parties have a role to play

Drawing inferences from the above, the aforementioned sectors and others whose income is on the rise amid lockdown and harsh business environment should do the needful and pay their taxes. 

Meanwhile, the government also have a role to play here. There should be responsible for accountability and transparency which should be enough motivation for the sectors to pay their taxes. It is obvious that some corporate bodies do not oblige to the payment of taxes due to government misappropriation of funds and not channelling the tax generating revenue to the right usage.