BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
Chairman, Joint Tax Board, MR. BABATUNDE FOWLER, has declared that the new National Tax Identification Number (TIN) Registration System and Consolidated Taxpayers’ Database will help engender a tax-friendly environment in the country and lay a foundation for less governmental dependence on loans, aids and grants.
FOWLER, who is also Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), made the declaration yesterday in AWKA during the South-East regional flag-off of the new registration system.
The New TIN Registration System, he said, improves on the efficiency and output of the entire tax administration process and provides enhanced convenience to the taxpayers as well as the tax administrators. He added that the new system also guarantees that each taxpayer’s details are readily available every time and anywhere.
“A major feature of the new system is that it possesses the capability to integrate with all relevant agencies by leveraging on already captured data. With its ability to deploy analytics to discover underlying correlating trends and patterns, better visibility of the taxpayer is assured inherently leading to increased Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for all tiers of government. Thus, the new system reduces the burden of taxpayer information management, while at the same time significantly reducing the cost of collection,” FOWLER said.
He explained that the system maintains the identification of an individual taxpayer by assigning of a unique and universal TIN, which makes possible for the taxpayer to view, retrieve or update his/her tax profile from anywhere and at any time.
The JTB Chairman commended revenue performances achieved by ANAMBRA STATE and the whole of the South-East geo-political zone.
He noted that Anambra State revenue collections, which stood at N10.4 billion in 2014, have grown by 84.6% as at 2018, with a total annual collection of N19.3 billion collected as IGR for the year. This positive trend, he added, is also set to continue in 2019 as half year figures for 2019 indicate a 22.9% growth over the correlating period for 2018.
He similarly noted that the performance of the South-East geopolitical zone also show encouraging growth trends as the cumulative collection of N77.31 billion for the year 2018 was a 16.66% improvement of the N66.27 billion collected in 2017.
“The year 2019 is looking quite positive as well as already, the sum of N42.98 billion has already been reported for the half year period. This represents an 18.1% growth over the N36.4 billion recorded for the half year period of 2018,” he said.
FOWLER also noted that over the last four years, the economic policies of the Federal Government have focused on establishing a stable foundation for further socio-economic growth and development.
These, he explained, have resulted in the expansion of the tax base from 10 million to 20 million taxpayers with the potential for an increase of up to 45 million before year end; exponential growth in the IGR collection at the sub-national level by 46.11% from N800.02 billion in 2016 to N1.16 trillion in 2018; and growth in FIRS collections by 53.81% from N3.30 trillion in 2016 to N5.32 trillion in 2018; with the 2018 total collection of N5.32 trillion being the highest collection ever.
According to him, the milestones also include rise in non-oil revenue, with a collection of N2.85 trillion accounting for 54% of total revenue collection; payment by the Federal Government of the total sum of N157.35 billion representing all outstanding PAYE tax liabilities owed by Federal MDAs to states from 2002 to 2016; with a total of N23.87 billion paid to the states in the South-East Geopolitical zone and consistent upward progression in the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking, that saw the country move up 15 places in the recently released 2020 Report.
