“We will stop road construction tax credit” – FIRS Chairman, Adedeji

The Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Zaccheous Adedeji has washed off hands from the tax credit credit policy of the former administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He described the policy as illegal and involving the FIRS was not adding up to the economy, while he vowed to stop it, saying, it has no basis in the mandate of the revenue agency.

The FIRS boss stated this on Wednesday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa.

The Committee was investigating the disbursement of N2.59 trillion tax credit Scheme on Road Construction introduced by the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The scheme allows the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to identify Federal highways for reconstruction which the FIRS be made to raise a tax credit for payment after certification by the Federal Ministry of Works

Unfortunately, documents made available to the Committee members by the NNPCL on extent of works done by various contractors under the scheme, showed that most contractors have collected funds and were never seen on site.

Most Committee members expressed shock to see payments on reconstruction of Federal roads in their Constituency, but which nothing was done nor Contractors seen.

The FIRS boss said, N2.59trillion Tax Credit Scheme introduced through Executive Order 7 of 2021 by Muhammadu Buhari led government was illegal, hence, he will not be a party to illegality.

“The tax credit policy was unlawful and should be discontinued in the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

“The Mandate of FIRS lumped with execution of Tax Credit Scheme for road construction, is to access, collect tax and remit it into the federation account and not to appropriate it for any purpose through executive order.

“It is not the duty of FIRS and NNPCL to be paying contractors. The Ministry of Works should be in line with its core mandate, allow to award road contracts and pay for them.

Earlier, the NNPCL Chief Financial Officer, Umoru Ajiya, while explaining the implementation of the tax credit policy argued that, “it was quick for is dilapidated roads across the six geo political zones in the country with N664billion spent so far.”