In a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Lagos Internal Revenue Service State (LIRS), both agencies have agreed to a collaboration and unification in the areas of tax audit, tax collection, capacity building and exchange of taxpayer information.
While this move is a good development that gradually introduces tax harmonisation to eliminate multiple taxation or multiple tax audits by both agencies for Lagos taxpayers, it importantly implies that corporate taxpayers in Lagos State will have little hiding place from tax.
Taxpayer data will become easily available to both tax authorities, as information exchanges take place.
The FIRS will exchange all the taxpayer data in its purview, including data from international tax information exchanges pertaining to Lagos taxpayers, while LIRS will do the same, including for all those businesses in the informal sector who are not in FIRS’ tax net.
Read more about the Joint Agreement from the LIRS’ blog – https://lagosstate.gov.ng/?p=61954.
For more information about how this Joint Agreement can affect your business interests in Lagos State, please do not hesitate to send your enquiries to clients@vi-m.com.