The Senate has ordered the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to recover and remit into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) the sum of N17, 690, 341, 565.00 lost to tax evasion by some companies.

While considering for approval the 2015 Auditor-General Report, the Senate ordered the Executive Chairman of the agency, Muhammad Mamman Nami, to go after the defaulting agencies for recovery of the money and remit into CRF within 90 days.

The apex legislative chamber also directed the FIRS to sanction its officers involved in alleged overlappingcontracts and splitting between 2014 and 2015, and remit N32, 449, 743.61 into government coffers within 90 days with evidence of compliance submitted to the Auditor-General and the Senate Public Accounts Committee.

The Assembly handed out these resolutions following the queries issued against the FIRS and 104 other public agencies by the Office of Auditor-General of the Federation in the 2015 Audit-report, sustained and adopted by the Senate before embarking on its annual recess.

Meanwhile, the FIRS, while responding to the queries before the Senate Public Accounts Committee, claimed that it could no longer trace the addresses of erring companies.

Apart from directing the Chairman of FIRS to recover the money and pay to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the Red Chamber also ordered for blacklisting of all companies that failed to file their annual returns

(New Telegraph)