Value-added tax (VAT) collection from the informal sector for the Federal Government has been planned and is set to begin by the Market Traders Association of Nigeria (MATAN).
The Federal Inland Revenue Service’s (FIRS) VAT Direct Initiative (VDI) seeks to combat multiple taxation in the marketplace and restrain the actions of touts and self-appointed tax collectors through collaborations with security authorities.
Using a unified systems technology, the FIRS teamed with MATAN to collect and remit VAT from its members, particularly those in the informal sector.
Ayo Abiola, managing director of Burke-Frazier Consulting Firm Limited and a technical partner of MATAN, told reporters in Lagos that the FIRS had chosen the organization to be in charge of collecting VAT from the informal sector because of its more than 80 million members nationally.
Abiola stated that MATAN would implement its digital platform, which lists members, assigns them a digital ID, and tracks their revenue in order to collect and send the accumulated VAT to the FIRS.
At the time of enumeration, he stated, MATAN members would obtain identity cards with their tax identification number (TIN) and other personal information for tax purposes.
Abiola indicated that each MATAN organization would send out agents who would be in charge of tax collection and informing local members about the new methods.
He continued that the collaboration would include FIRS officers and MATAN members on the monitoring and assessment team to ensure openness, responsibility, and early VAT remittance.
The technical advisor stated that the government has promised several benefits and that the organization is also addressing the issue of appropriate loan programs for members who do not use compound interest.
The government would implement a rewards system, and the association would also send out a team to verify the legitimacy of the receipts, so he recommended members to save their payment receipts.
 VAT Direct Initiative){kind=link}