COMPLIANCE · WHISTLEBLOWER
Report a diverted payment or an unlawful demand
If someone demanded money outside the published schedule, asked to be paid in cash, or offered to settle a liability privately, tell us. Reports may be made anonymously, and every one is investigated.
What to report
The single most damaging thing that can happen to a revenue system is a payment that leaves a taxpayer’s hand and never reaches the treasury. It costs the State the money, it costs the taxpayer twice when the liability reappears, and it destroys the willingness of honest people to pay anything at all. Almost every such loss is visible to somebody at the time it happens.
Report any demand for money outside the published schedule of revenue heads; any request to pay in cash to a person rather than through an accredited channel; any offer to reduce, waive or "settle" a liability privately; any receipt that looks irregular or carries no receipt number; any person collecting in a market or motor park without producing a payment reference; and any conduct by a revenue officer that would not survive being written down.
You do not need proof, and you do not need to be certain. You need to have seen something. The Legal, Audit & Enforcement directorate has the powers and the records to establish the rest, and a report that turns out to be a misunderstanding costs nobody anything.
How to report
Whistleblower line
0800 IGR HELP
Answered 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Saturday, in English and Hausa. You may withhold your name. Ask for the whistleblower desk rather than the general service desk.
whistleblower@sirs.gov.ng
Monitored by the Legal, Audit & Enforcement directorate only. Attach photographs of any document or receipt you were given.
SMS and WhatsApp
+234 802 913 8013
Text the date, the place and what happened. Useful when reporting from a market or a checkpoint while it is still happening.
In person
Revenue House or any area office
Ask for the Taxpayer Ombudsman. You will be seen privately and are not required to give your name.
What to tell us
The more of these you can give, the faster an investigation moves. Report anyway if you only have one or two.
- The date and approximate time.
- The place — the market, office, checkpoint, licensing station or premises.
- What was demanded, and how much.
- What revenue head or charge it was said to be for.
- The name, service number or description of the person who demanded it.
- Whether a receipt was issued, and what it looked like.
- Any payment reference, receipt number or account number you were given.
- Whether anyone else witnessed it.
What happens to your report
Logged within 24 hours
Every report is logged with a reference number by the Legal, Audit & Enforcement directorate. If you gave contact details you receive the reference; if you reported anonymously you may quote the date and place to check progress.
Assessed within 5 working days
The directorate checks the report against the revenue ledger, the receipt series, terminal records and officer postings. Many reports are resolved at this stage because the records show what happened.
Investigated
Where the assessment supports it, a formal investigation opens. The officer concerned may be redeployed away from taxpayer contact while it proceeds.
Outcome
Findings go to the Executive Chairman and, where an officer is implicated, to the Board’s Establishment & Discipline Committee. Criminal conduct is referred to the police and prosecuted.
Reported to the Board
The number of reports received, resolved and substantiated is reported quarterly to the Board and published in the annual report.
Protection for the person who reports
You may report anonymously. Where you give your name, it is held by the Legal, Audit & Enforcement directorate and is not disclosed to the person reported or to any operating directorate.
No taxpayer’s account is adversely reviewed, audited or enforced because they made a report. Any suggestion that it has been is itself a reportable matter and goes to the Taxpayer Ombudsman.
Deliberately false reports made to damage a named person are a separate matter and are dealt with accordingly — but a report made honestly that turns out to be mistaken carries no consequence at all.
Check the receipt you were given
If it is genuine, this will tell you in seconds. If it is not, you have something to report.