How Adedeji’s Regime Revolutionised Tax Operation Into ‘One Stop Shop’
L-R: Mrs Dapo Awolowo (Head, Office of the Special Adviser on Media to the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS); Mr. Dare Adekanmbi (Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman); Mr. Charles Okonji (National Chairman, Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria, CICAN); Mr. Femi Olarinde (Special Adviser on Tax Policy) and Mr. Sikiru Akinola (Technical Assistant, Media) at the FIRS Media Parley with CICAN members in Lagos on Thursday, July 11, 2024.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has revolutionised tax office operation into a streamlined “One stop shop” catering to diverse taxpayers by their categories; Large taxpayer, Medium taxpayer and Small taxpayer.
This has improved customer satisfaction and has significantly reduced customer complaints between the 4th quarter of 2023 and the 1st quarter of 2024.
The nation’s revenue agency has achieved remarkable success in simplifying tax processes by offering personalised services and enhancing tax education thereby increasing tax compliance by 20%.
The Agency realised 107 per cent of its 2023 targeted revenue of N11.55 trillion to over N12 trillion.
The service launched the National Single Window initiative which aims to spur economic growth, providing business enterprises with effortless access to the global market by facilitating fast and easy operation at the nation’s port while harmonising and improving government revenue.
These are some of the achievements recorded by the Chairman, FIRS, Dr. Sacch Adedeji.
In his presentation at a media parley organised by FIRS for members of the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) on Thursday in Lagos, Mr. Femi Olarinde (Special Adviser on Tax Policy) to the FIRS Chairman, Dr Zacch Adedeji, highlighted the many transformative initiatives introduced under the current leadership of Dr. Adedeji and how theses have rub off positively on the image, administration and revenue profile of the tax organisation.
Femi restated the FIRS’s commitment to fair tax administration through responsive and accessible service to optimise revenue collection for national development.
In doing this, the Service leverages its mandate to assess, collect and account for revenue accruable to the Nigerian Federation while administering the relevant tax laws.
To actualise its vision of becoming one of the world’s most efficient and trusted revenue services, the FIRS is in pursuit of optimizing operations and enhancing overall effectiveness.
To this end, Femi noted that the tax Agency ”has strategically realigned its focus to bolster productivity, efficiency, and cultivate customer-centric ethos.”
As part of this endeavour to meet new targets, FIRS has revised its structure to reflect: People-Centric, Effectiveness & Efficiency, Cohesiveness, Data-Driven Approaches, Adaptability, and Cutting-Edge Innovation.
He stressed that the FIRS strategy, geared towards effective delivery of its mandate to be one of the world’s most efficient and trusted revenue services, is driven by People, Technology and Processes.
Femi recounted how Adedeji’s tenure has seen the FIRS dragging over 170,000 new payers into the tax net with the Agency netting 81% of tax collection in the first quarter of 2024, amounting to 3.94 trillion.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Special Adviser on Media to FIRS Chairman, Mr. Dare Adekanmbi, highlighted the rationale behind the FIRS’ Media team visit to CICAN members in Lagos.
He also commended CICAN members for demonstrating a high level of commitment and professional excellence in the discharge of their duties.
According to him, we are here because we know that CICAN is one of the key stakeholders that we know we must engage and continue to partner in the task of building Nigeria because of what we are doing. We are from the revenue authority in Nigeria and you know that there is nothing you can talk about in terms of nation-building without talking about revenue because revenue is the oil that keeps the engine of the economy growing.
Underscoring the strategic importance of revenue generation to national development, Adekanmbi said “Without revenue, all the promises governments have made, there will be virtually nothing that can be done about those promises. Those promises will remain wishful thinking, mere rhetoric if there are no revenues to drive the agenda of every government.”
While commending CICAN members for their support, he said “We have come to say thank you for your dedication, for your support, for your commitment because each time we sent out a statement, you used them massively and we say, we have not seen them, and we have not visited them, look at the level of acceptance that we have enjoyed from them.
“We are visiting you today because of the dedication we have enjoyed from you guys. We have never done this since the FIRS Chairman assumed office in September last year. So I say look, it is CICAN first because they have been partners in progress for FIRS. So, we cannot but make you our first port of call.
“CICAN members have been very decent. Each time I sent materials to you guys, you had never asked me for money before using them. It is an Association that has promoted Journalism Careers. You know most people see journalists as beggars. But for you in CICAN, you guys have lifted up the image of the profession and you cannot see CICAN members as beggars – they are decent, they are professional and they are committed to what they are doing.
“We are here to see how we can forge the way to keep the union to continue to be romantic, delicious, fantastic, amiable and productive. Today, I can hold my head up and say, I am still a journalist because there are decent journalists in this hall.”
