MEMBERS of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance are bent on determining the actual amount paid as tax by each of the 21 banks in the country, from 2008 to 2012, and ascertain whether, or not, remittances were made in accordance with laid-down rules and regulations.

The Guardian learnt that officials of most of the financial institutions have complied with the May 27 deadline issued to them to respond to questions posed by the Abdulmumini Jibrin-led committee.

The committee, which also expressed the readiness to look into the books of agencies in the Aviation and Telecommunication sectors on matters of tax remittance, has engaged a consulting outfit to help it achieve this goal.

The investigation was primarily informed by the need to enhance internally generated revenue from both public and privately owned institutions in the country.

The resolve was further reinforced by the startling revelation by the Acting Executive Chairman of the Service, Alhaji Kabir M. Mashi, that some of the banks (who are also tax payers) that collect money on behalf of government have not lived up to expectation.

Questions posed to the banks by the Finance Committee, among other requirements, border on: signed audited account, signed self assessment form, profit before tax (PBT), profit after tax (PAT), taxation assessed and tax paid.

Other posers were payment to the FIRS – actual amount paid in tax year and amount assessed but outstanding, whether the banks have ever received a query from the FIRS on tax due, whether the banks have ever been levied penalties and interest and if yes, how much is involved; how much has been paid as tax, how much was waived (with supporting documents).

The banks were also asked to submit documents comparing the amount in their self-assessment report with actual amount paid - per self-assessment report, actual for the year, and explain the difference.

The lawmakers also want to verify whether, or not, any of the banks collect taxes on behalf of the FIRS.   They are to list all type of taxes collected, amount collected per each type of collections – comparing targeted amount and the amount that was actually collected.

Banks are also to confirm if all remittances during the year were received within the time stipulated by the FIRS, list out all amount remitted late by stating the period clearly, state what penalties were levied by FIRS for non-compliance, list all tax audit queries including date, amount and period involved with late remittance of tax collected on behalf of the FIRS.

Jibrin, who insisted that top ranking officers in the mould of chief operating officers of banks are to appear on behalf of their banks in the course of the committee’s technical session billed to start tomorrow, had, during an interactive session with officials of the FIRS, claimed that his committee was privy to complaints of some of the banks defaulting in remittance of taxes. Justifying the measure, he said the move was primarily aimed at ensuring that the Federal Government has adequate funds to implement the 2013 budget.

He said the House is keen on averting a dangerous situation, whereby government grapples with a deficit of N1 trillion, as was the case in last year’s budget.

“We don’t want excuses of lack of funding for the budget. Other sources of revenue generation are the independent revenue sources. We would go into it to build up government revenue and ensure it is paid into the consolidated revenue fund to implement the budget.

“We recognise the importance of our banks to the economy and revenue generation. We want them to do more. We have received complaints relating to tax complaints by some of our banks. We would go everywhere to look for money for government. We would ensure such monies are not lost, hidden or taken away.”

Members of the committee were taken aback when they were informed by Mashi that one of the 24 banks that is both a tax payer and one of the revenue collecting agents for government is yet to remit revenue collected in the last three years.

Jibrin also directed FIRS officials to clearly spell out the level of compliance and the timeliness of remittances made by each of the 24 banks, warning bank executives not to misconstrue the measure by his committee as yet another probe of the banking sector.

Mashi, who promised to make details of remittances by banks available to the lawmakers, acknowledged that there were cases of banks not remitting taxes as and when due, as well as other constraints like non-existence of tax identification number placed on its ways by ministries, departments and agencies of governments (MDAs).