The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami, has urged all tax collecting agents in the public and private sectors to make correct collection and prompt remittance of all collectable taxes high priority so that Nigeria can derive maximal benefit from the 2019 Finance Act.
According to a statement by Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, Mr. Nami gave this charge in Lagos on Tuesday during his on-going tour of the South-West. Mr. Nami was at the Government House, Alausa, Lagos where he met the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the headquarters of the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in Ikeja.
Mr Nami also held an enlarged meeting with Management and members of staff of the FIRS in Lagos at the Service’s Agidingbi Office where both Management and Staff exchanged ideas on strategies to achieve the aims of the 2019 Finance Act, the statement said.
In his presentation to Governor Sanwo-Olu, Mr. Nami gave a broad overview of the palliatives available to taxpayers in the 2019 Finance Act, including a reduction in Company Income Tax for Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) from 30% to 20%; exemption of SMEs who make a turnover of less than #25 million from paying value added tax (VAT) and a further cut by 2% for corporate and individual taxpayers who file their CIT or Personal Income Tax (PIT) returns three months before due date.
Responding, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the Nigerian economy has the capacity to generate more than the N8.5 trillion the FIRS has been mandated to collect “when we look at our economic indices. And we need this money. It is only when the FIRS does well that we can get this money through the FAAC. We in Lagos pledge to work even closer with you in the FIRS to meet your target. We also pledge to use the money judiciously in the service of the public when it comes back to us as allocation”.
At NAMA where he was received by Director, Safety, Electronics and Engineering Services (DEES), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, Mr. Nami stressed that collecting agencies should support the FIRS by re-dedicating themselves to correct assessment, collection and prompt remittance of all taxes accruable to the federal government.
