FIRS plans to audit taxpayers nationwide

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Tunde Fowler, delivering a keynote address at a stakeholders meeting on “Tax Administration and National Revenue” on Thursday in Lagos, revealed that the Service would soon commence the audit of taxpayers across the country.
National Daily gathered that the stakeholders’ meeting was aimed at charting the way forward on tax administration and the challenges hindering a robust tax regime in Nigeria.
The FIRS Chairmam explained that the nationwide audit would ensure increased tax revenue collection, improved service delivery to taxpayers and enhanced voluntary compliance.
He appealed to stakeholders to support efforts at repositioning the country’s tax administration system.
Fowler, who is also the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board, JTB, said that the board was determined to improve services to taxpayers at all levels.
He noted that a consolidated Taxpayer Identification Number, TIN, data base was already in place under the JTB.
The FIRS chairman stated that all tax laws that were not in the interest of the taxpayers were already undergoing a review process.
He renewed appeal that taxpayers and stakeholders should support tax authorities in the interest of national development.
“The greatest challenge for any tax administration is achieving and maintaining a high degree of self-assessment and voluntary compliance by taxpayers.
“Studies, however, show that the extent to which an economy is able to grow sustainably and develop depends to a large extent on its ability to generate tax revenue to finance its expenditure and the efficiency of its tax system.
“The questions that arise from these simple statements include how to identify areas of non-compliance; how to measure the level of non-compliance; and how to address non-compliance,” Fowler declared.
He further revealed that FIRS had put in place various strategies to curtail non-compliance to improve tax revenue collection on a sustainable basis.
“Well-designed taxpayer services, education programmes, and creative measures can facilitate self-assessment and compliance,’’ Fowler remarked.
He noted that the major determinant of tax compliance included changes in law, taxpayers’ attitudes to payment of right taxes and tax consultants’ offering the right advice to the taxpaying public.