"Focus on Your Work": Tinubu's Tax Team Lists Customs, 62 Other MDAs That Must Stop Collecting Govt Revenue
- President Bola Tinubu's newly inaugurated tax committee has an important proposal for tax collection
- The committee is suggesting that the likes of Customs, NIPOST, and various ministries be stripped of the power to collect government revenue
- They also suggest the use of a National Identification Number (NIN) to ensure every Nigerian pays tax
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The Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms and Fiscal Policy wants the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to be the only agency with the power to collect government revenues.
At the moment, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and several other ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) collect trillions from Nigerians and businesses and remit to the federal government.
Source: UGC
However, the chairman of the tax committee, Taiwo Oyedele, does not believe that the agencies should be allowed to collect revenue directly.
Speaking on Channels Television, he argued that the FIRS is best suited to collect revenue for the MDAs.
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His words:
"Ironically, our cost of collection is one of the highest. And the reason is that we have got all manners of agencies.
" The Federal Government alone has 63 MDAs that were given revenue targets last year."
Oyedele, who recently resigned from his position as Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers where he built a strong reputation as a tax man, added that the lack of coordination is the reason Nigeria’s revenue collection is one of the lowest in the world but has a high cost of collection.
He said:
“Two consequences arising from this are: firstly, these agencies are being diverted from their primary role of promoting the economy. Secondly, since their primary purpose did not involve revenue collection, they will struggle to gather funds efficiently.
“The FIRS should be the only agency responsibily for collecting revenue. This will help the government improve cost of collection and efficiency.
“These changes will mean that Customs will now focus on trade facilitation, and border protection and a NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission), will simply regulate telecommunications. They are not set up to collect revenue.
MDAs to be affected if revenue proposal is accepted
- Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
- Nigerian Ports Authority
- Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Nigerian Meteorological Agency
- National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
- Federal Road Safety Corps
- Nigeria Customs Service
- Standards Organisation of Nigeria
- Nigerian Airspace Management Agency
- Bank of Agriculture
- Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading
- Tertiary Education Trust Fund
- Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria
- Nigerian Railway Corporation
- Federal Reporting Council of Nigeria
- Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency
- Corporate Affairs Commission
- Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority
- National Broadcasting Commission
- Joint Admission Matriculation Board
- Nigerian Port Authority
- National Automotive Design and Development Council
- Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria
- Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission
- Nigerian Communications Commission
FIRS says Nigeria's Tax-to-GDP ratio will rise to 10.9%
In related news, Legit.ng reported the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) estimated that by the end of 2021, Nigeria's tax-to-GDP ratio, which has fluctuated between five and six per cent, will rise to 10.86%.
The tax-to-GDP ratio evaluates a country's tax collection in relation to the size of its GDP-based economy.
Source: Legit.ng
