The Nigerian Government has said it plans to adapt citizens’ National Identity Numbers (NINs) registration for vehicle registration, travel documents, driver’s licence, investments, and purchases to populate the country’s tax database and curb tax evasion

Emmanuel Akosile | ConsumerConnect

As the Nigerian Government intensifies efforts at encouraging the citizenry to enroll for their National Identification Numbers (NINs) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), authorities may connect citizens’ NINs to their major financial activities.

These range from vehicle registration, issuance of travel international documents, driver’s licence, investments to purchases with a view to populating the country’s tax database and curbing tax evasion.

ConsumerConnect reports the NIN signposts Nigeria’s clear and strongest attempt to account for the country brand identity for purposes of national security, social security, and taxation purposes among several uses.

Taiwo Oyedele, a panelist at 1st Annual Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) National Tax Dialogue held Thursday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, FCT, underscored this much when he said the country could generate and double its revenue from income tax if it adopts the measure to link Nigerians’ financial activities with their NINs.

Oyedele disclosed that South Africa generated more revenue from income tax than Nigeria governments, including Federal, state and local governments put together as a result of the usage of data collection through national identity, GlobalFinancialDigest report said.

According to the expert, the Nigerian Constitution mandates every citizen to pay tax, and by linking NIN to all their financial activities, more people will be captured in the tax net.

He explained: “When people come for NIN registration, simply register them for tax and send their tax number to them through SMS.

“Government should also have a land registry where everyone who has land is registered with their NIN with the intention to capture their data for tax purposes.”

Company’s registration and investments in the Capital market should also be linked to the NIN to enable the government to capture the financial status of every citizen, he noted.

Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, in corroborating Oyedele’s submission on the occasion, also stated that the government is looking in that direction and would deploy the NINs for both developmental purposes and income generation.

The Minister stated the government has made the possession of NINs mandatory for people who want to renew their passports, and this is done to ensure that the country’s population is properly captured.