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Executive Chairman, Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT IRS), Abdullahi Attah, has said the Service had collected over N12.1 billion from tax payers from January to March. He also said it generated over a million unique Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) for Abuja residents within three months. Attah stated this at a press conference on Monday, adding that the Service was in the process of registering other taxpayers and agents.
According to him, the Service would soon commence sending bulk text messages and emails to confirm the validation of taxpayers’ registration details and inform registered taxpayers of their TINs. He also said the exercise would put in place a verifiable and foolproof taxpayer database that guaranteed efficient tax administration, based on the principles of accountability and transparency. “The bulk text messages and emails contain basic taxpayer registration information and request each taxpayer to quote the taxpayer’s identification number in all communications with the Service.
It is one of its kinds in the country and expected to change the face of taxation by according unique and personal recognition to every taxpayer in the FCT, whether employed or self-employed. “FCT-IRS is committed to serving the taxpayers in a most conducive manner and will continue to improve their satisfaction and confidence,” he said. He also said the overall objective of the exercise was to leverage on ICT and employ world class, end to end automated tax administration platform.
Attah said the process would enable taxpayers to pay, process and print their tax clearance certificates from the comfort of their homes or offices.
“We intend partnership with the private sector. We are currently reviewing about 400 proposals from various consultants, including ICT companies. “We will follow due process to select suitably qualified IT partners for the deployment of the latest IT infrastructure in order to entrench efficiency and tax compliance in the FCT.”
The chairman said the Service had also developed robust taxpayer database where unique TINs were assigned to every identified taxpayer in the Territory. He also said N146 billion would be generated in taxes and other related matters in 2018.
