Nigeria Considers Online Purchase Tax

Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is considering the introduction of a five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) for online purchases, according to reports by the Premium Times.

Online purchases are on the increase and the FIRS is looking for new ways to raise revenues the paper reported following an interview with the group’s chairman Tunde Fowler.

VAT in Nigeria remains low, with the country coming under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase the rate.

Tax evasion in the country also remains a key source of concern. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2015 just 10 million Nigerians paid tax, despite the labour workforce totally 77 million.