MEDIATRACNET
The Finance Act 2021 must be made to establish a robust and efficient tax system administration for the benefit of all Nigerians, the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, has said.
The Special Assistant, Media and Communication to the Executive Chairman, Johannes Wojuola, quoted the Nami as saying in Abuja on Monday at stakeholders meeting to review the Finance Act 2021.
Wojuola said the FIRS Chairman underlined the importance of the Finance Bill and the need to tailor it to create the enabling environment for an efficient tax system that would work for all Nigerians.
“Whatever proposals that have been submitted for consideration should be looked at critically, vis-à-vis what works for Nigeria, the business community, the taxpayers, tax consultants, and the Nigerian system altogether.
“It (Finance Bill) will help us more if we realize that our collective efforts and services are not about us, but about our country. We must build a tax system that is not only robust, but that will outlive our respective services to this nation; whether as members of the executive, the judiciary, or the legislature.
“In other words, these laws must be made in a manner that reflect not just what we feel is right, but what is indeed right,” Nami was quoted as saying at the meeting.
Besides, Nami appealed to the Fiscal Policy Reform Committee and the National Assembly Committees on Finance to continue to make laws that would stand the test of time and reflect economic realities.
The Chairman called for laws that would assist the government mobilize revenue and assist the Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) to grow and become taxpayers in the future.
The chairman commended the leadership of the National Assembly and members of the Executive for the annual review of the Finance Act.
Nami noted that such reviews would avail the Federal Government the opportunity to adopt new ways to enhance domestic revenue mobilization and improve tax administration in the country.
“The Finance Bills have accorded the Federal Government and the Fiscal Policy Reform Committee the opportunity to annually review and identify gaps in our tax system, to fix them and ensure that government can earn the much-needed revenue for the execution of its mandate.
“Without the commitment of the National Assembly leadership and members of the Executive, from day one to the fiscal reform that the Finance Bills were aimed to achieve, we would not have been able to attain the resounding successes we have recorded since 2020.
“It was the enablement provided by the Finance Act 2020 that gave the FIRS the powers to deploy its own digital tax administration solution, TaxPro Max with its attendant results.
“That single revolutionary amendment to the FIRS Establishment Act gave us the power to deploy our homegrown Digital Tax Administration Solution called the TaxPro-Max. This platform allows for seamless electronic registration of taxpayers, electronic filing of returns, and payment of taxes.
“Consequently, it is not surprising that FIRS was able to collect over N5 trillion between January this year to date, while we are confident we will achieve our total VAT target for the year,” Nami stated. (NAN)
