The Federal Inland Revenue Service ('FIRS'), recently
introduced new measures to improve the experience of taxpayers
during tax audits. The strategy includes the reduction of the tax
audit cycle to 63 days from the previous period of 90 days and the
introduction of a single tax audit by the FIRS and the Joint Tax
Board ('JTB').1
Tax authorities commence tax audits to inspect taxpayer's
business records and financial affairs to ensure that taxes
reported and paid are appropriate and in accordance with tax laws
and regulations. During audits, the business operations of a
taxpayer are disruptedwhich impacts on the taxpayer's
perception on the efficiency of the tax payment system. This may
have contributed to the recent World Bank's Report on Doing
Business 2019 report which ranked Nigeria as 157 out of 190
economies on the ease in paying taxes.2 Perhaps, the
implementation of the recommended action by the FIRS would
positively contribute to the tax payment experience.
