FIRS Launches New Tax Revenue Plan

The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, on Tuesday, released fresh initiatives to improve the current level of non-oil tax revenue collection in the country.

Kabir Mashi, the group’s acting Executive Chairman said the move is part of efforts to improve the major indices of growth, such as the ratio of oil to non-oil tax revenue collection and the tax to GDP ratio.

While speaking at the FIRS Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum which was held in Abuja, Mashi stated that the organization has identified eight key initiatives as a platform for achieving its goals.

“We have already become the largest economy in Africa. However, there is still work to be done in various areas of our economy, including the tax system, where we are putting in necessary effort to improve the major indices of growth, such as the ratio of oil to non-oil tax revenue collection and our tax to GDP ratio. These initiatives are in the areas of audits, arrears and debt enforcement; review of tax exemptions, evasion of rental taxes, and taxation of high net worth transactions, registration, filing and communication as a means of enhancing compliance,” Mashi said.

Mashi, who stressed that all government parastatals should support the ongoing efforts aimed at improving tax revenue, urged them to assist in processing tax clearance certificates which would guard against forgery.

“You should assist your staff in complying with annual filing requirements and also in processing tax clearance certificates through official channels, so that your employees do not patronize touts or obtain fake tax clearance certificates. In addition, you should continue to assist us with relevant data and information on taxpayers, should we require such and also verify with us any tax documents, which your contractors provide especially tax clearance certificates,” he added.