Taxpayer population now 33m

The national taxpayer roll is set to hit 33 million, Chairman, Joint Tax Board and Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Tunde Fowler said yesterday.

 

He spoke in Bauchi as the State Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubaker launched payment of taxes through Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) and through its website.

 

The new e-payment system is being powered by Interswitch.

 

Fowler also celebrated the marked increase in revenue generation in Bauchi state under the leadership of Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Internal Revenue Service, Alhaji Jibrin Hassaini Jibo from about  N4 billion to over N7 billion monthly.

 

Fowler spoke at the 142nd meeting of theJoint Tax Board (JTB).

 

Said Fowler: “The role of IGR in the success of your administration cannot be overemphasized. Your administration has been a strong proponent of enhanced IGR and your support and encouragement for the Bauchi State Internal Revenue Service is ample testimony to this fact. Today, with the launching of the State IGR collection platform and the official website of the Bauchi State Board of Internal Revenue Service, we are only more encouraged that the rising IGR profile of the State will not only be sustained but will experience even added growth in the years to come.

 

“You may wish to note that Bauchi State is actually one of the success stories when matters of IGR are discussed, both at the regional and at the national levels. Your Excellency may wish to note a few of the impressive statistics on IGR collection of Bauchi State. Computation of IGR collection for Bauchi State for the            9 Month period January to September 2018 hit N7.04 billion. This figure has already outperformed the Full Year 2017 IGR figure of N4.36 billion with a percentage margin of 61.2%.

 

“Average quarterly growth rates for Bauchi as at Q3 2018 is 10.01%, which places it among the top ten highest average quarterly growth rates nationwide for the period. At the regional level, Bauchi State is actually setting a healthy pace for the region as her 9-month collection in 2018 is just over 26% of the entire IGR collected by the Six States within the region.

 

Fowler noted that the JTB seeks to play an important role in an “emerging global community where boundaries have moved beyond physical geographic expressions and where financial flows have become seamless and electronic, making it increasingly challenging for Governments to collect the taxes that are due them”

 

“It is in the light of the foregoing that the theme of this 142nd Meeting, which isConsolidated Credible Database and Exchange of Information: Role of Stakeholders” was selected.

 

With the ongoing database consolidation of the JTB, an initiative being executed in collaboration with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), a National Taxpayer database with the data of well over 33 million individual taxpayers across the country is now a reality. Thus, having this consolidated database, which is clean and credible, opens the door to immense opportunities for the tax administrator at all levels.

 

 

Leave a Reply