Tax Reforms Committee Chairman: N5 billion will be spent on operations

According to Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, the committee will invest billions into its operations.

Oyedele observed that the contested N5 billion handed to the Joint Tax Board by the Federal Inland Revenue was to pay the committee’s budget in a statement he issued on his X (previously Twitter) profile on Friday.

Remember that Muhammad Nami, the immediate past executive chairman of FIRS, revealed on Thursday that the agency paid the alleged amount to the JTB after receiving the presidency’s consent in response to a claim of money appropriation.

A few months before she left office, Nami claimed, “The N5 billion paid to the Joint Tax Board was paid to fund the Presidential Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reforms’ work. We paid it after receiving a letter to that effect from Mr. President’s office that was personally signed by Zacch Adedeji.

Oyedele stated that the funds will be used to support the national “Data for Tax project,” which he claimed was crucial to the successful reform of the nation’s tax system. Oyedele provided a breakdown of the committee’s budget.

Part of the declaration states, “The Committee’s budget includes funding for a nationwide “Data for Tax” project, which the JTB has been leading for more than two years. The project was intended to be funded by the federal government and the 36 states when it was proposed to the National Economic Council in 2022. However, a lack of funding caused it to stall. The initiative was funded by the Committee due to its significance in the effective restructuring of our tax system.

“Other costs covered by the committee’s budget, which has the National Assembly’s approval, include the establishment of offices for the committee in Lagos and Abuja, payment of salaries for the full-time staff hired by the committee, travel expenses and other logistics for over 70 members representing more than 40 institutions and stakeholder groups mapped to 6 different subcommittees, more than 30 Secretariat staff, and more than 40 students from across the nation.

Oyedele pointed out that the committee’s job is to ensure accountability, therefore all expenditures are dutifully recorded and open to audit.

It should be remembered that the committee wasn’t formed only to issue findings and recommendations; we are also tasked with putting approved and suggested solutions into action, which requires funding.

“The committee’s duty includes making sure that our national resources are managed responsibly and honestly. Therefore, it would be contradictory for the same committee to waste money or act carelessly in its own business. As we cannot afford to pay the commercial value for their time, abilities, and experience, committee members work on a volunteer basis and are only paid reasonable allowances to cover their out-of-pocket expenses. I work full-time on the project as the committee’s chairman, but I’m not paid for it.

“All of the committee’s expenses are duly reported and accessible for audit. For as many Naira as we can spend on fuel, stationery, and other expenses, we keep receipts. In the JTB account, there are still over N4 billion of the aforementioned money that were transferred by the FIRS for use by the committee that have not yet been used.