Following incessant cases of forged Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs), the Federal Government has mandated all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government (MDAs) as well as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to authenticate all TCCs presented by companies and individuals engaged in public procurement processes.
A statement by the Special Adviser, Media & Communications to the Minister of Finance, Oluyinka Akintunde, which posited that the forged TCCs were purportedly issued prior to the automation of the certificates from 22nd August, 2017, also confirmed that the validation of the TCCs would enhance the integrity of the tax system.
“A Circular issued on Tuesday by the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, requires the MDAs to authenticate all TCCs prior to making any payment. Electronic TCCS (e-TCCs) can be verified via logging into https//www.tcc.firs.gov.ng and taking the following steps: click on verify e-TCC, enter the TCC number and complete the captcha, and click on submit to view the TCC number entered.
“For TCCs issued before 22nd August, 2017, the Circular advised the MDAs and other stakeholders to forward a list of the companies and photocopies of the TCCs to the office of the Executive Chairman, FIRS for authentication. The FIRS has undertaken to verify the TCCs within 72 hours of receipt,” the statement read.
Akintunde stated that the Minister warned Company Directors against the possession of fake TCCs, observing that the outdated manual system had gave room for the production of forged TCCs.
While advising companies and individuals that were in doubt of the authenticity of their TCCs to take advantage of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) to regularise, the Minister added that the Federal Ministry of Finance and the FIRS would continue to work in partnership with government at all levels and stakeholders towards eradicating tax fraud and evasion.
It could be recalled that the Federal Government in January 2018, directed vendors of MDAs to display their Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) on their invoices before payments were effected.
The non-presentation of a TIN by the vendors largely contributed to leakages in revenue remittances, particularly Value Added Tax (VAT) and Withholding Tax (WHT).
