Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has revealed plans to significantly increase its tax revenue collection by 57% to N19.4 trillion.
Gatekeepers News reports that Bloomberg in a document, said the FIRS hopes to increase its oil revenues to N9.96 trillion with non-oil tax revenue at N9.45 trillion.
The financial news agency said the FIRS plans to enhance efficiency and tax compliance by restructuring its organisational framework to prioritise taxpayers and implementing additional automation measures for tax collection.
As outlined in the document, the FRSC also plans to carry out internal reallocation from oil to non-oil.
It stated that “carry out internal reallocation from oil to non-oil, given that the budget oil revenue for 2024 was increased by 214% compared to 2023 actual, while non-oil was increased by only 3%.”
President Bola Tinubu earlier instituted reforms aimed at increasing revenues accruing to the government’s coffers.
However, Tinubu has always made it known that he hopes to tax the “seed” but the fruits.
In July, President Tinubu appointed Taiwo Oyedele as the chair of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms which comprises representatives from both the public and private sectors, along with civil society groups and students.
In October, the Committee produced its Quick-win report which the President has ordered the implementation across MDAs.
The objective of the committee was to refine the country’s fiscal policy, tax laws, and regulations, and streamline tax collection.
The committee’s mandate included achieving a commendable tax-to-GDP ratio of 18% in the next three years, reducing multiple taxation and tax evasion, and promoting a robust tax culture.
As of now, the nation’s current tax-to-GDP ratio is 10.86%, which falls below the average for Africa.
In the first six months of 2023, the FIRS collected tax revenue of N5.5 trillion which was a record for a half year and puts the agency in a position to surpass its N10.1 trillion collection for 2022.
