The ambitious drive of the current management of the Federal Inland Revenue Service was to match the agency along with global cutting edge institution that would not only reset the nation’s tax system but also drive the nation’s economy competitively.
This fact was not lost on the chairman of the agency,Mr.Muhammad Namu,whose appointment in December 19, 2019,by President Muhammad Buhari was deserving of a man who had indeed grew in the nation’s tax system and hungry to block the leakages therein and revolutionize
He is an astute certified tax, accounting and management professional with intimidating credentials.
With about 30 years of practical working experience in auditing, management and tax advisory and management services to clients in the banking, manufacturing, services and public sector as well as non-profit organisations,observers said the appointment of Nami to the driver’s seat of the Federal Inland Revenue Service was a square peg in a square hole for President Buhari’s desire to make transparency and accountability the watchwords of his job and appoint credible minds to institutions that would drive the desire.
The changing fortunes of the Federal Inland Revenue Service begun with the passing of the FIRS (Establishment) Act 13 of 2007 which gave the institution autonomy blossomed in 2003 when the Federal Government of Nigeria acknowledged the need to put the agency on a competitive lane through service delivery and value addition.
This explains why the agency’s tour in the nation’s economy had continued to add value in line with its statutory and administrative responsibility for the assessment, collection and accounting of taxes to the government, provision and publication of accurate data and annual reports to the Federal Government of Nigeria and other stakeholders to inform national economic planning, academic research, tax policy, and development legislation as well as timely provision of tax advisory services, rulings, guidance notes, and clarifications on request and to the public in general.
Besides,the development also robbed on the leadership of the agency through which Namu drew his strength and vision to build an institution the nation can be proud of and bequeath to younger ones without blemish.
Of particular interest to observers was Nami’s desire to minimize revenue leakages, limit tax evasion, and significantly improve the fiscal position of state governments amidst the current economic challenges through the adoption of electronic taxation(e-Tax)
At the recent 146th meeting of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) with the theme: “Leveraging Technology Solution for Enhanced Administration of Indirect Taxes,” said many Nigerians are currently making monies privately without remitting appropriate taxes.
According to him, the adoption of technology will harness the various taxes by individuals and plug leakages especially for state governments who are presently in dire fiscal challenge.
Little wonder,the Nami-led administration in FIRS has deployed technology to reset the system in the agency and place it at par with similar agencies in other parts of the world.
It recently deployed an online portal as part of measures to check the activities of fraudsters who specialise in producing and selling fake Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) issued by fraudsters.
Nami,who disclosed this while receiving the management of the Federal Capital Territory (FCTA) Land Administration,said the agency had unveiled a state-of-the-art and user-friendly online portal that detects any TCC not duly issued by the FIRS.
He said: “We are not unmindful of the activities of fraudsters who specialize in producing and selling fake TCCs to tax evaders.The FIRS has now gone ahead of them as it has launched an online portal through which Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, corporates and individuals could confirm the genuineness of TCCs issued to them.The moment anyone presents a TCC to transact any business with you, we want you to visit www.tcc.firs.gov.ng.The moment you put the Taxpayer Identification Number of the company, its RC number and the name of the company in the portal, the actual Tax Clearance Certificate of the company.If it has any, will come up. If the TCC presented to you is fake, you will know. When you come across such cases, you should immediately inform us so that we prosecute such people. The only way we can collaborate as government agencies is to share information,” he said.
Besides,the agency introduced a new tax administration solution (TaxPro-Max) to ease tax compliance and modernise tax administration in the country,which Nami said enables seamless registration, filling, payment of taxes, automatic credit of withholding tax and other credits to the Taxpayer’s accounts, among other features.
“The TaxPro-Max also provides a single-view to Taxpayers for all transactions with the Service”. The TaxPro-Max platform is accessible at www.taxpromax.firs.gov.ng.From June 7, 2021, the TaxPro-Max becomes the channel for filing Naira-denominated tax returns in the country.”
According to him, all taxpayers have been notified that all naira-denominated tax returns are to be filed via the TaxPro-Max Solution in order to generate the obligatory Document Identity Number (DIN).He added that henceforth, taxpayers would not be able to pay without DIN; as such taxpayers wanting to submit their tax returns manually must visit the relevant tax offices.
Impressed by the development, Interswitch Group reaffirmed its preexisting partnership with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to enable taxpayers to file all naira denominated tax returns through its robust and government-approved payment gateway.
Commenting on the consolidation of the partnership with the FIRS, Chinyere Don-Okhuofu, Interswitch Group’s Divisional CEO for Industry Ecosystem Platforms remarked Interswitch is committed to supporting the FIRS to deepen effective tax collection, which is critical to national economic prosperity through its robust digital payment platform.
She said, “In furtherance of our commitment to support the Federal Government in driving efficient and accountable revenue collection across all touch points, we are delighted to consolidate our existing partnership with the Federal Inland Revenue Service in delivering seamless payment collections and reporting to complement the improved TaxProMax platform.The continued partnership between Interswitch and the FIRS, which dates back as far as 2005 when Interswitch pioneered electronic tax collections for the Federal Government of Nigeria is an attestation of our commitment to delivering robust and efficient payment solutions and a confirmation of the agency’s trust in our solutions.”
‘’FIRS has modernized its tax administration and collection processes. We believe that the ease accompanied by the new platform will enhance tax compliance. In addition, leveraging proven payment solutions such as Interswitch’s makes the platform consistent with global standards. We therefore encouraged taxpayers to pay all their Naira-dominated tax returns through the Interswitch portal.
Economists have identified a number of qualities that a good tax should possess equity,certainty,convenience,
Probably,the litmus test for the current leadership in the agency was strikng the equilbrium between the qualities of taxation and the excruciating COVID-19 pandemic with severely economic implications to the country.
In 2020,the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)generated N4,952,243,711,728.37 as tax revenue in the 2020 fiscal year.This is about 98% of the tax target of N5.076 trillion that was set for the FIRS by the Federal Government, despite the economic challenges of 2020 caused by record low oil prices and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Muhammad Nami,said this performance was remarkable, considering the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the Nigerian economy,adding that some of the factors that negatively affected the operations of FIRS last year include, record low oil crude oil prices globally, business disruptions and lootings during the violent #EndSARS protests and the generous tax waivers granted to businesses to ease the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.
He also said that additional tax exemptions granted to small businesses in the 2019 Finance Act and insecurity in some parts of the country were other factors that affected collections.The oil revenue which used to contribute over 50% in tax returns through the Petroleum Profits Tax in previous years, accounted for only 30.6% of the tax revenue generated in 2020 due to low oil prices.
The non-oil tax collection, which was 109% in 2020, was 9% higher than the previous year and attributed these achievements to many reforms initiated by the board and management of FIRS under his leadership.
He said: “The conscientious taxpayers in the country and dedicated members of staff of the FIRS nationwide for their support and devotion to work made this performance possible despite the numerous obstacles encountered in 2020.The FIRS is optimistic that this current fiscal year will be better than in 2020. We shall perform well, given that our service reforms are expected to yield greater dividends, especially as different parts of tax administration are being automated.We are also optimistic that exploration activities will improve in the oil sector and increase the prospect of higher tax revenue from the sector.Similarly, the ongoing reforms together with increased stakeholder collaborations will brighten the prospect of improved voluntary compliance and consequently higher tax revenue generation for the country this year and beyond.’’
He stopped the use of tax consultants for jobs regular staff members were employed to and funds saved from this practice which had bled the commission is now being saved for FIRS.
He has also restored the morale of demotivated workers. In his acknowledgement of this change in staff morale
He said: “They are quite excited now and willing to work harder than before because I have taken steps to return the functions previously given to the consultants back to them so that they can perform optimally.”
His introduction of Authority to Incur Expenditure, AIE, and the commencement of implementation of a new organisational structure, which opened up the opportunity for eligible staff to be promoted, leading to square pegs being put in square holes for efficient service delivery were important ingredients that boosted productivity
Other measures were also taken to motivate members of staff to positively change their attitude to work and attune them to the institutionalization of corporate governance structure in the agency.
Aware that modernisation would enormously aid more effective governance of the commission, Nami chose across the board update of the Nigerian Tax System to eliminate artificial impediments and align it with global best practices as envisaged by the 2019 Finance Law.
In terms of confidence building and trust,the Nami-led administration in FIRS has been able to entrench this on the staff,especially in upholding the sanctity of the agency’s internal processes and matching same with stakeholders’ expectation of its capacity to generate revenue for the government.
This was demonstrated during the ongoing trial of the former directors and members of the agency over alleged fraudulent practices committed between January 2017 and December 2018.
Less than two years of his appointment,the current superintendent in Federal Inland Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)has indeed shift the goal post of the agency to performance-driven and obviously not resting on his oars to get the best out of the agency and the nation’s tax system.
