The Federal Inland Revenue Service, or FIRS, said that by introducing new business modules and streamlining tax payment procedures, it has increased the number of taxpayers within the nation’s tax net by over 170,000. Dr. Zacch Adedeji, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, revealed this information during a media briefing in Lagos. He said that the agency saw a 56% YoY rise in revenue collection to N3.94 trillion in the first quarter of 2024 (Q1’24) from N2.52 trillion in Q1’23.
Thank you for visiting The Vestigator, don't forget to share!
He stated that FIRS had met 81% of its Q1’24 objective, as represented by Femi Olarinde, Special Adviser on Tax Policy.
“In 2023, FIRS set a target of 11.5 trillion, which we were able to surpass and achieve N12.3 trillion in collections,” he said. The government set a target for us to raise N19.4 trillion in 2024, and by the end of Q1 of that year, we had collected 81 percent of that amount.
There are two phases to taxes: the peak and the off-peak. One of the off-peak times is Q1. We will do better; June is our peak month, and we will definitely surpass our Q2 goal.
He credited creativity and hard work for helping 2023 surpass its revenue objective of 107%.
“This is the result of pure labour, making things right, and simplifying things for Nigerians.” Reducing the cost of compliance by making things as convenient as feasible is one of the taxation concepts.
“Since the government cannot run without tax revenue, it requires robust institutions like the FIRS in order to support it and provide the infrastructure that the public wants to see.”
“We added nine new modules to our cutting-edge Tax Promax technology, which we use to manage taxes.”
We promote innovation, so that technology was created within. “We added nine more modules to that module in less than a year due to the significant investment in innovation.”
We are modernising the tax office to become a simplified one-stop shop, which lowers the administrative and compliance costs. Our client satisfaction rate has increased by more than 70%.
“We have increased the number of new taxpayers by 170,000 and we have achieved remarkable success in simplifying tax processes,” he stated.
Previous remarks made by Dare Adekanbi, Special Adviser to FIRS on Media, stated: “We cannot talk about nation building without revenue; oil is what keeps the economy going.”