Multi-stakeholder’s approach can help to achieve TETFund’s target – FIRS Chairman

Mr Muhammad Nami, Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), says the multi-stakeholder’s approach will help to block all areas of leakages in education tax collection.

Nami made the assertion on Wednesday at the 2020 joint TETFund and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) interactive forum with the administrators, contributors and tertiary institutions in the South-West zone in Lagos.

Theme of the forum was: “New Thrust in Sustaining the EDT Collection During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Effective Service Delivery of the Mandate of the Fund.”

Nami said that FIRS considered TETFund as an important stakeholder in tax administration in view of the role it played in capacity development and funding infrastructure development in the public tertiary education.

“COVID-19 presents unique challenges to FIRS as well as a good opportunity to be innovative and resilient in order to achieve our mandate of making taxation the pivot of national development.

“The theme of this year’s forum could not have come at a better time than this when all hands are on deck to improve revenue collections through innovative means.

“Our response to COVID-19 was introducing several palliatives measures to cushion the effects on taxpayers, removed penalty and interest on the category of debts such as tax audit, and self assessment filing,” Nami said.

Also, Mr Kashim Imam, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of TETFund, said that the synergy between FIRS and TETFund was vital to the transformation as evident in the public tertiary institutions nationwide.

Imam said that this was achieved as a result of joint delivery of complementary services by providing amiable and lasting solutions to the beneficiaries.

“The successful strategic partnership over the years could be attributed to strong, relentless commitment and cooperation by the leadership of both organisations and zeal to improve education.

“Globally, the world is currently facing COVID-19 pandemic, which has adversely affected the world economy, of which Nigeria is not exempted.

“There is need for stronger and decisive measures to ameliorate the effects of the present day reality and sustain education tax collection for the fund’s continuous intervention in our institutions,” he said.