The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has taken down an online platform (https://lagos.qpay.ng/TaxPayer) that contains details such as names, home address, phone numbers, and emails of taxpayers, all accessible to the general public. The development is taking place after BusinessDay revealed the existence of the website.
The new platform, called Qpay, has a search option for either individual or corporate taxpayers. With a click on the link, the contact details of any taxpayer can be assessed.
In September 2019, the LIRS launched an Enterprise Tax Administration System (eTax).
The eTax is a digital tax administration and payment solution which would enable payment of all types of taxes due to the Lagos State Government.
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In some cases, it’s not just the current home address of the individual; even former home addresses are also published against the names.
Following BusinessDay’s investigation, a source said, Rabiu Olowo Onaolapo, the commissioner of finance, made contact with LIRS leading to the shutting down of the site. The LIRS is expected to retweak the site to comply with data privacy guidelines.
It is however unclear what the damage has been done to people’s data for the period the website was up.
