Taxpayer population in the country is set to hit 33 million, Chairman, Joint Tax Board (JTB) and Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Tunde Fowler, said yesterday at the 142nd meeting of the JTB in Bauchi, Baushi State.
According to Fowler, the ongoing database consolidation of the JTB, an initiative being executed in collaboration with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), has shown that the population paying tax in the country is now well over 33 million. He said having this consolidated database, which is clean and credible, opens the door to immense opportunities for the tax administrator at all levels.
He said: “As we build on this data, we shall also be ensuring that the technological infrastructure that will facilitate the seamless exchange of data across levels of competent authorities are present. This entails significant investment in Information Technology via the provision of required infrastructure, equipment and as capacity building for personnel that will drive the processes.”
Mr Fowler expressed optimism that investment in infrastructure will foster efficiency in taxpayer management and will align with the country being a signatory to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA), which will trigger the Automatic Exchange of Information among treaty partners and two other initiatives of the Federal Government: the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), and the Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS).
Fowler also celebrated the marked increase in revenue generation in Bauchi State, where the governor, Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, launched payment of taxes through Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) and through its website. The new e-payment system is being powered by Interswitch. Mr Fowler said the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state has risen from about N4 billion to over N7 billion monthly.
