Head, Office of the Special Adviser on Media to the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Dapo Awolowo (left); Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS Chairman, Dare Adekanmbi; National Chairman, Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN), Charles Okonji; Special Adviser on Tax Policy, Femi Olarinde and Technical Assistant (Media), Sikiru Akinola, at the FIRS media parley with CICAN members in Lagos
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has surpassed its 2023 revenue target of N11.55 trillion as it generated N12.36 trillion to Federal Government coffers.
It also achieved 81 percent of the collection in the first quarter of 2024 amounting to N3.94 trillion, being an all-time highest in the same quarter and 56 percent higher than Q1 2023.
Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, Dare Adekanmbi made this known at the media parley with Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) members in Lagos on Thursday, July 11, 2024, maintaining that these and more were achieved within the first year in office of the Chairman, Dr. Zacch Adedeji.
Adekanmbi also said that FIRS integrated nine new modules on its tax administration system, while automating over 80 percent of manual processes for effective service delivery.
He attributed the progress so far to revolutionizing of tax office operations into what he described as “a streamlined One-Stop-Shop,” catering to diverse taxpayers’ needs categorized into large taxpayers, medium taxpayers and small taxpayers.
“This has improved customer satisfaction and has significantly reduced customer complaints between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. We also achieved remarkable success in simplifying tax processes by offering personalized services and enhancing tax education.
“We increase tax compliance by 20 percent, launched the National Single Window initiative which aims to spur economic growth, providing business enterprises with effortless access to the global market by facilitating fast and easy operation at the nation’s port while harmonizing and improving government revenue,” he said.
He added that the FIRS improved the tax compliance of international shipping companies lifting crude oil in Nigeria, thereby substantially contributing to higher tax returns for the country.
It would be recalled that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government earlier mandated the FIRS to assess, collect and account for revenue accruable to the federation and administer relevant tax laws in the country.
