ECOWAS calls for revenue mobilisation for Nigeria, others

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on Thursday, called on tax agencies in Nigeria and other nations within the region to focus on domestic revenue mobilisation to be able to address present realities.

The ECOWAS Director (Trade, Customs Union), Tiemtore Salifou, made this known in Abuja at the opening session of the first major shareholders meeting of the Support Programme for Tax Transition in West Africa.

He said, “We must share experiences and move towards moving tax revenue and ensure that international tax standards are implemented.

“The management of Value Added Tax expenditure and tax reforms in Nigeria and Liberia will be discussed here and we will discuss how to manage expenditure under a tax regime.”

The Director of Fiscal Affairs and Public Finance at WAEMU, Habbas Traoure, disclosed that the workshop would assist the regions fight domestic tax evasion and drive revenue mobilisation and fight illegal tax flows.

He said, “This will help us develop capacity to do well in this area of tax evasion. We have had study on VAT and the ECOWAS commission is proud of the result achieved so far and this seminar is a prove to show that we are on the right track.”

He declared that the meeting would help evaluate what had been done and assist the actors to brainstorm on the measures to be put in place to tackle issues that affect taxation in the zone.