The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler said on Wednesday Nigeria loses about $15 billion to tax evasion annually.

He disclosed this in Abuja while declaring open a seminar organized by the West Africa Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) titled: "Exchange of Information As a Tool To Combat Offshore Tax Evasion, especially in the ECOWAS sub-region."

The three-day seminar was organised by WATAF in collaboration with Global Forum on Transparency.

The workshop was designed to deepen the capacities of tax administrators from the ECOWAS sub-region in the mechanisms of exchange of information on taxation.

"Nigeria loses about $15 billion annually if you look at the major economies, especially those in the extractive industry, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria.

"They form bulk of the transactions, so one can safely assume that Nigeria may be losing between $14 billion to $15 billion annually to tax evasion," Fowler said.

He noted that the increasing mobility of income and assets had created a major challenge for tax administrators in the sub-region. (NAN)

Vanguard