In its bid to step up the fight against corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday signed a new Executive Order (EO 008), giving Nigerian taxpayers holding offshore assets and earning income, 12 months to voluntarily declare them and pay taxes on thereon.
The order, titled: Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS), which became effective from Monday, October 8, 2018, he explained, is aimed at curbing money laundering.
Consequently, he said “the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice has been mandated to set up a VOARS in Switzerland for all categories of taxpayers who have defaulted in the declaration of offshore assets and payment of due taxes.”
While defaulting taxpayers to take advantage of the scheme, those who fail to, “will at the expiration of the scheme, be subject to investigation and enforcement procedures.”
The President warned that “with the Automatic Exchange of Information between Nigeria and foreign countries, there will be no hiding place for anyone.”