Part 1
Recently, the Federal Government of Nigeria introduced the voluntary assets and income declaration scheme (VAIDS), encouraging Nigerians to declare their tax liabilities in exchange for amnesty. Most Nigerians have a perception of tax as part of several official legislations used by public officials to proverbially rob Peter to pay Paul. Moreover, they view taxation with cynicism, seeing that it has not aided any provision of public infrastructure. The scheme was therefore envisaged to raise about US$ 1Billion by engaging members of the public in a manner that does not perpetuate the sense that their default in tax payment was lingering criminal case hanging over them like the proverbial sword of Damocles. While the scheme is welcome, certain parameters in tax collection…
