James Emejo in Abuja
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, would on Wednesday declare open a two-day strategic management meeting of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The retreat would focus on, “Reimagining Tax Administration for Equity and Economic Growth”.
The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, had upon assuming office, championed a radical transformation in the values of the service, seeking to make it more FIRS taxpayer-centric and well-suited revenue-collecting agency.
The visionary approach led to a significant overhaul of the agency’s organisational and management structures, coupled with a re-engineering of the tax processes to support taxpayers to fulfilling their civil obligations.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Dare Adekanmbi, Adedeji
said the minister would deliver a goodwill message and together with the FIRS boss, unveil the new direction to directors and other key members of the service’s management team.
Adekanmbi, pointed out that the objective of the retreat was to ensure that, “all directors are fully informed and aligned with the strategic direction of the Executive Chairman of FIRS, solidifying a foundation for unified action.”
He said, “We will also be engaging critical external stakeholders in government, professional bodies and organised private sector about the renewed and refocused strategy of the FIRS.
“At the end of the retreat, participants are expected to have a comprehensive understanding of the new organisational structure and its implications for their roles.
“We will leave with a shared vision for a modernised tax administration that is both equitable and growth-oriented, inspiring confidence and excitement for the future.”
Adedeji, resumed office in August 2023, promising to jointly build a tax administration that enjoys the trust and confidence of all.
He promised to boost the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 per cent within in three years, to surpasses Africa’s average of 16.5 per cent, acknowledging that a lot of work still needed to be done.
He noted that increasing the revenues available was part of the FIRS’ support to the federal government to reduce reliance on borrowing to discharge its duties to Nigerians, vowing to also simplify the tax system to enable voluntary compliance going forward.
The FIRS chairman, specifically, promised not to “force things down the throat of our stakeholders” but rather, “engage with them, work with and through them to jointly build a tax administration that we will all be proud of and one that enjoys the trust and confidence of all”.
To achieve results, he urged the FIRS staff to work with uncompromising integrity, uphold taxpayers’ confidentiality, and demonstrate a high level of professionalism, fairness and show exemplary public service.
He said he would be meeting the management shortly in order to “put heads together on how we can achieve the target we will be setting to improve the efficiency of FIRS and position it to better serve Nigerians”.
He also warned that, “There will also be consequences for those who elect to go the contrary route. I seek your support and cooperation in the task ahead of us.”
Adedeji, said he would run an open-door policy in order to actualise the revenue drive of the federal government and guarantee the economic prosperity and wellbeing of Nigerians.
He said the gains recorded by FIRS under his predecessor, Mr. Muhammad Nami, would serve as the springboard upon which the service will launch out under the new administration.
Adedeji added, “I believe this exchange of baton signposts the continuity of the hard work that has been put into making FIRS better.”
He said, “As a strategic institution, I am sure we are all aware of our current economic reality as a country. We are in revenue crisis. Government revenue is low amid a huge public debt.
“Last year (2022), 96 per cent of government revenue went into debt servicing. Where debt has grown bigger than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and debt servicing faster than revenue, immediate actions have to be taken to remedy the situation.”
He said the FIRS would embrace current efforts to tidy the fiscal landscape and address some of the obstacles impeding effective operations of the service as the primary agency of government responsible for the administration, assessment, collection, accounting as well as enforcement of taxes and levies.
He said, “We need to innovate and build our operations on foolproof technology, while also evolving a hub of fresh ideas and creativity. We must definitely plug leakages.
He stressed the need to strengthen the service’s internal processes and control mechanism and place a high premium on effective coordination of assigned tasks and delegated responsibilities.
He also promised a to unveil a cocktail of strategies that will stimulate voluntary payment of taxes and levies, adding that this is achievable because “Nigerians acknowledge the need for government to increase its revenue to be able to meet its obligations to them.”
He added that these measures would build a tax system that is smart and modern, and one with unquestionable integrity as well as earn the trust and admiration of stakeholders.
He said, “However, in areas where voluntary compliance seems difficult and artificial barriers are being strewn in the way, we shall enforce compliance responsibly and decisively.
“We will design a robust model to make it easy to detect those who refuse to comply with a view to making non-compliance costly for them.
“Granted, paying tax is a civic obligation placed upon individuals and entities corporate. It, however, seems to me that we have a duty to make it clear and certain to the taxpayers why they should perform their tax obligation without waiting for the enforcement team to knock on their doors.
“On our part, we must ensure we simplify the tax system to make it easy for people to pay. In all of our operations, quality data will be a key component. We shall increase the use of data to allow us measure progress, establish benchmarks, make informed decisions and enhance performance excellence.”
