Muhammad Nami, executive chairman of the Federal Inland
Revenue Service (FIRS), says the agency is proposing road infrastructure tax in
Nigeria to make the informal sector contribute to building a modern society.
The informal sector has business activities that operate
outside of government regulation and are largely unregistered. They include
commercial bus drivers, artisans such as dressmakers, hairdressers, vulcanisers
etc., mainly those in the low socio-economic strata, with low skills and poor
education.
In a statement signed by Johannes Wojuola, media aide to the
FIRS chairman, Nami disclosed this on Thursday while receiving a delegation of
the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by Chris Isiguzo, the National
President, in his office, in Abuja.
According to the statement, Nami said the proposed road
infrastructure tax to be administered by FIRS would provide the government with
adequate funding for road construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance.
The statement added that the scheme would also provide the
needed security for roads in the country.
“The only way to make the informal sector contribute to
building a modern society is by making them pay when they use the roads,” Nami
said.
“That is why we are proposing that government should
consider introducing Road Infrastructure Tax in Nigeria.
“In many jurisdictions, road users pay for the use of road
infrastructure as such it shouldn’t be seen as an additional burden on our
citizens because it has the potential of making life better for all of us.”
Speaking further, Nami stated that the economy presently
relies heavily on non-oil revenues to discharge its statutory responsibility of
paying salaries and providing social amenities to the citizenry.
“Without the tax that you pay, governments at all levels
would not be able to fulfil their mandate to the electorates. Tax money also
helps to ensure the roads you travel are safe and always in good condition,” he
added.
Nami also stated that despite sharp practices by some
companies who were in the habit of evading taxes, by shifting their capital and
profits to tax havens, as well as low revenue from Petroleum Profit Tax, due to
the shortfall in crude oil production among other factors, the FIRS has been
putting forward critical reforms that have been yielding positive impact on the
Service’s operations.
“Adopting technology in tax administration is crucial in
improving domestic revenue mobilisation in view of dwindling oil prices in
order to avoid falling into a debt crisis. It is against this backdrop that the
TaxPro-Max became the channel for filing Naira-denominated tax returns
effectively from 7th June 2021,” Nami said.
“The TaxPro-Max enables seamless registration, filing of
returns, payment of taxes and automatic credit of withholding tax as well as
other credits to the Taxpayer’s accounts, among other features. The technology
also provides a single-view to Taxpayers for all transactions with the
Service.”
Despite ongoing pending legal tussle on value-added tax
(VAT) collection, Nami added that FIRS had created ten VAT regional
coordination offices across the country to drive revenue collection.
He said the FIRS collected N4.2 trillion between January and
September 2021 as VAT following the “successful facilitation of ISO 27001:2013
Certification of the FIRS’ Exchange of Information Centre and the achievement
of 114.66 percent of the VAT collection target in the first half of the year”.
While congratulating Isiguzo for his recent reelection as
the national president, he urged NUJ members to be constructive and “should
always confirm or verify sources and accuracy of information”.
Earlier, the NUJ national president said the visit of the
union was part of his resolve to engage critical institutions as a stakeholder
in charting a way forward for the country’s collective good.
Isiguzo described FIRS as a vital institution in the country,
which “requires all the support when the country is security-challenged,
adversely affected by Covid-19 and faced with FOREX crisis as well as political
intrigues from different parts of the nation”.
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