FIRS Chairman -70% Of June Allocation From Non-oil Sector

The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Tunde Fowler, said in a report that about 70 per cent of over N500bn raised from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee in June came from the non-oil sector,

Fowler, who is also the Chairman, Joint Tax Board, was quoted in a Monday report by Economic Confidential as saying, “Of the sum, 70 per cent came from non-oil sources while only 30 per cent came from oil sources. It was the first time in 2016 that the Federal Government shared over N500bn among the three tiers of government during the FAAC meeting.”

“We are proud of the development and we tell ourselves that this is the time to fund the budget of the Federal Government from non-oil sources.

He spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during a visit by the 36 state chairmen of the State Boards of Internal Revenue to the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

According to Fowler, the FIRS tax revenue collection is a combination of a robust taxpayer registration drive, tax education and engagement through the establishment of the Federal Engagement and Enlightenment Tax Teams.

He said the audit of five key sectors, namely banking and the financial sector, aviation, power, telecoms, and oil & gas had started yielding result.

According to Fowler, the FIRS has added over 700,000 new corporate accounts since he assumed office.

Nigeria, he said, had a cumulative figure of 10 million registered taxpayers if the number of taxpayers of States Boards of Internal Revenue and the FIRS was added.

The FIRS chairman said the JTB had given itself a target to register at least 10 million additional taxpayers by December 31, 2016.

He said, “We have commenced tax enforcement too. We are happy that the efforts of the FIRS in collaboration with revenue stakeholders are already yielding positive result.

He thanked Amosun for approving the FIRS’ request on automated deduction and remittance of Value Added Tax and withholding tax from the point of payments to contractors in the state.

Fowler said, “Pursuant to implementing the collaboration framework, the FIRS requested for an approval of state governors to allow the automation of the process of payments on taxable transactions to enhance the deduction, at source, particularly of withholding tax and Value Added Tax.

“It is important to note and acknowledge that the Ogun state governor was the first to acknowledge and approve the implementation of the process. I thank Senator Ibikunle Amosun for the demonstration of his total support towards our efforts of making the Nigerian tax system efficient.”

Credit: Punchng