The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, has revealed that his organisation has drafted an Executive Bill that will be submitted to the National Assembly to reform Nigeria’s revenue administration system, including regulation of the cryptocurrency sector.
At a stakeholders’ engagement with a joint committee of the National Assembly on Finance on Saturday at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos, Adedeji disclosed the information.
The FIRS chairman was quoted in a statement by Dare Adekanmbi, Adedeji’s Special Advisor on Media, available to BrandSpur national news brand, as stating that the bill’s objectives include streamlining tax laws, harmonising revenue collection, and attempting to replace outmoded tax laws with new ones that are in line with contemporary economic realities.
According to Adekanmbi: “By the special grace of the Almighty God, we will bring a bill for a law to overhaul the whole process of revenue administration in Nigeria. Part of what we intend to achieve with this is to harmonise revenue collection, making tax laws very simple to understand and to be in tune with our current realities.
“For example, the Stamp Duty Act was made in 1939 when there was no Internet connectivity or any of the features of modern society as we have it now. Even in 1939, states and local government councils had not been created,” Adekanmbi added.
Continuing, he went on to say: “So, we need to bring that law up to date. This is one of the reasons President Bola Tinubu set up the Taiwo Oyedele-led Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee to look into all these laws and make recommendations.
“Today, we cannot run away from the cryptocurrency ecosystem because it is the in-thing. But as it stands in Nigeria today, no law regulates cryptocurrency operations. We need a law that regulates that area of our economy. This is why we are having this engagement with the legislators. We will regulate it in a way that is not injurious to the economic development of Nigeria.
“These are some of the things we are bringing together in an Executive Bill to overhaul revenue administration for the development of the country,” he added.
Adedeji said the revenue-collection agency is on track to meet the N19.4 trillion income target set for FIRS in 2024.
Adedeji had this to say: “We set a target of N19.4 trillion for ourselves. We are almost in the third quarter of the year and with the figures we are seeing so far, I can say we are on the path of achieving our target.”
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, praised FIRS for setting up the stakeholders’ meeting and expressed the opinion that FIRS ought to be in charge of overseeing and collecting taxes for the Federation. He pointed out that the National Single Window program will help to solve the inefficiencies in revenue collection within the nation.
Musa disclosed: “This is another opportunity for us as lawmakers to listen, learn, and contribute on how best to support the FIRS to achieve its target. It is also an opportunity for FIRS to share its challenges, successes, and strategies for the future.
“By working together, we can ensure that FIRS is fully equipped to maximize not only the collection but also provide the needed resources for national development and public welfare,” Musa added.
The Adedeji’s leadership at FIRS was praised by his colleague in the House of Representatives, Honourable James Faleke, who was represented by Honourable Kalejaiye Paul. He thinks it’s a positive thing that FIRS and the National Assembly’s joint committee on finance work well together.
According to Faleke: “It is very important to note that everyone wants to go to heaven, but they don’t want to die. Everyone wants improvement and development in the Federation, but nobody wants to contribute to the purse. We are much more interested in sharing, but nobody wants to contribute, forgetting that the developed nations we talk about today were developed based on the resources that every citizen put into their purse.
“That, of course, is a task that is challenging for the FIRS. But I must commend the civility and professionalism by which the FIRS carries out its responsibilities because, in a time like this, the most difficult thing to do is to ask people to pay,” he added.
He went further to state: “Like the Chairman Senate Committee said, I want to say that the House of Representatives will be there for you all the time. We will cooperate and collaborate with you in moving Nigeria forward.”
