The Chairman of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Tunde Fowler, has restated the imperativeness of States Revenue Services’ autonomy in view of the positive revenue generation and tax administration implications for sub national governments in the country.
The Director of Communications and Servicom of the FIRS, Wahab Gbadamosi, in a statement on Sunday quoted Fowler as making the call at the 137th meeting of the JTB in Ilorin, Kwara State. The meeting had ‘Collaboration amongst tax authorities: Its impact on revenue generation and service delivery to taxpayers’ as its theme.
The tax administrator pointed out while addressing the State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, that allowing the states’ revenue services to operate professionally would impact on the states’ revenue profiles.
Fowler stated: “The good work that you are doing is evident in the performance of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service. It is good enough for others to follow. We commend the work that the KWIRS is doing and agreed among ourselves to adopt it as a model. Like I often tell my colleagues, we members of the JTB must not disappoint Nigerians.
“I would like you to call on other governors, your colleagues in other states, who have not taken the bold step to please do and give autonomy to state internal revenue services. Please, help us to convey this to them as an ambassador and tell other governors”, he added
This is even as he charged the JTB members to intensify efforts towards meeting revenue targets and commended the Kwara Governor for initiating steps that have been impacting positively on the state’s IGR.
Fowler stated: “I like to commend the efforts of the executive governor in transforming the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service. It is on record that the state’s annual IGR grew from N7.1bn in 2015 to N17.2bn in 2016. I, therefore, urge the service not to relent in its efforts and continue to work hard to justify the encouragement received from the state government.”
Earlier while declaring the meeting open, Governor Ahmed, told the chairmen of the other states’ internal revenue services that the Kwara Internal Revenue Service recorded improved performance with its IGR growing from N7.1 billion in 2015 to N17.2 billion in 2016 due to its people, processes and technology.
