Revenue shortfall: FG orders contractors to show TIN before payment  

The Federal Government has ordered vendors of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to display their Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) on their invoices before payments are effected by the MDAs. The Federal Government’s directive was handed down in Abuja by the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun to the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris.

The order is part of resolute efforts by the Government to block revenue leakages by the MDAs’ vendors. About N100 billion has been discovered as tax revenue shortfall by contractors between 2012 and 2017. Adeosun, in a memo titled “Compliance with Tax Payments by Federal Government Vendors”, disclosed that persistent leakages in revenue remittances by vendors had been uncovered by the Government’s Project Lighthouse, a systemwide revenue intelligence data-warehouse.

The leakages, according to her, were due to lack of TIN particularly on Value Added Tax (VAT), Withholding Tax (WHT) and other related inflows into the government coffers. The Minister said, “In order to address these lapses in the implementation of the 2017 Budget as well as boost the revenue accruable to the Government, all MDAs should be directed to insist that invoices submitted by vendors for payments must clearly state the TIN.

“This is to confirm tax compliance by relevant government vendors before payments are effected.” She added that the directive to the government vendors is in compliance with the provisions of both the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Procurement Acts of 2007 respectively. The Minister stated that spot checks would be undertaken on MDAs to confirm compliance with the directive.