(Ecofin Agency) - The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), on 9 June 2020, to verify that telecoms companies are paying taxes. The tax agency -which no longer wants to be completely dependent on the operators' accounting books- will integrate an application programming interface (API) into their systems.

“The API, which was developed in-house, is transaction-based and all we are trying to do is to ensure we have the basis for determining the completeness and accuracy of VAT elements in telecoms transactions,” explained Muhammad Nami (pictured), the executive chairman and CEO of FIRS.

The objective of this collaboration for the two federal agencies is to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the payment of value-added tax (VAT) and other taxes imposed on telecom operators' transactions.

According to Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice President of the NCC, the regulator is making sure, through this memorandum of understanding, that telecom operators -who already face multiple tax problems- fulfill their tax obligations. Umar Danbatta reassured that the integration of the FIRS technology solutions with the transaction systems of the telecom operators will not affect the cost and quality of services provided by the operators to consumers.