FIRS calls for robust tax administration

Mr Muhammad Nami, Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has urged stakeholders to work towards a robust tax administration for the benefit of all citizens.

A statement issued in Abuja on Monday by Johannes Wojuola, Special Assistant, Media and Communication to the Executive Chairman, said he stated this at a stakeholders meeting on the Finance Bill 2021.

According to Wojuola, the FIRS boss stressed that the Finance Bill must be tailored towards enabling an efficient tax system that would work for every Nigerian.

The statement quoted Nami as saying that “whatever proposals that have been submitted for consideration should be looked at critically vis-à-vis what works for Nigeria, the business community, the taxpayers, tax consultants and the Nigerian system altogether.

“It will help us more if we realise that our collective efforts and services are not about us, but about our country.

“We must build a tax system that is not only robust but that will outlive our respective services to this nation; whether as members of the executive, the judiciary or the legislature.

“In other words, these laws must be made in a manner that reflect not just what we feel is right, but what is indeed right.”

The statement further said that Nami appealed to the Fiscal Policy Reform Committee and the National Assembly Committees on Finance to continue to make laws that would stand the test of time and reflect economic realities.

He called for laws that would not only assist government at the level of mobilising revenue, but also assist the Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) to grow and become taxpayers in the future.

The chairman commended the leadership of National Assembly and members of the Executive for the annual review of the Finance Act.

Nami noted that such would avail the Federal Government the opportunity to deploy new ways of enhancing domestic revenue mobilisation and improving tax administration in the country.

“The Finance Bills have accorded the Federal Government and the Fiscal Policy Reform Committee the opportunity to annually review and identify gaps in our tax system, to fix them and ensure that government can earn the much needed revenue for the execution of its mandate.

“Without the commitment of the National Assembly leadership and members of the Executive, from day one, to the fiscal reform that the Finance Bills were aimed to achieve, we would not have been able to attain the resounding successes we have recorded since 2020.

“It was the enablement provided by the Finance Act 2020 that gave the FIRS the powers to deploy its own digital tax administration solution, TaxPro Max with its attendant results.

“That single revolutionary amendment to the FIRS Establishment Act gave us the power to deploy our homegrown Digital Tax Administration Solution called the TaxPro-Max. This platform allows for seamless electronic registration of taxpayers, electronic filing of returns and payment of taxes.

“Consequently, it is not surprising that FIRS was able to collect over N5 trillion between January this year to date while we are confident that we will achieve our total VAT target for the year,” Nami stated.