The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has restated its commitment to leverage cutting-edge technology and effective advocacy to significantly improve its internally generated revenue (IGR) in the state.
The Executive Chairman of the Service, Mr. Ayodele Subair, made this disclosure during an interview on The Tax Talk, a newly launched 30-minute public enlightenment television programme on taxation, monitored on Channels Television
The Tax Talk, an LIRS production, is broadcast every week on TVC, Channels, LTV and WAP TV.
Sharing his views on the programme, the tax administrator explained that the use of technology had helped the Service in optimizing its operations while also enhancing revenue generation for the state.
The tax administrator, who lauded the past and present governors of the state on their investments in technology to administer tax in the state, said: “If we did not introduce technology, no, doubt, we’re going to have very, very limited success. We have our e-tax and we also have our IBILE hub software to take care of the informal sector. One of the key features of the IBILE hub software is that it allows instalment payments from members of the sector.
“With the e-tax solution, people no longer have to troop and come to LIRS offices. From the comfort of their homes, they can carry out all their tax business, all the things that had issues in the past, that had problems, that created tension between the public and members of the organization, all these have been taken out completely. And there’s the ease of doing business. So, with this, move in that direction, we expect to move the revenue upwards continually. We’re quite confident that we will get there.
“We’re exploring constantly and bringing initiatives on how we can leverage fully on technology. We intend to set up some research unit that will delve more into technology to see how it can be relevant to our operations and of course, to the benefit of taxpayers. We’re constantly looking at how we can make tax experience very easy for members of the public”, Subair added.
Expatiating on the tax agency’s use of advocacy in tax administration, the LIRS boss pointed out that “the key thing in tax administration is for you to be positive all the time. You should never have a-cannot do spirit. So, we were quite optimistic. All we have to do is continue to improve on advocacy and remind residents of Lagos that there’s a social contract. They expect so many things from the government, the government also expects them to carry out their civic duties.
“So, we expect that members of the public who come and file, not just file their return, they file honestly and pay the appropriate taxes when the tax is due. One thing that drives this is there’s a certain level of mistrust between the people and the government”, he added.
