The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has been praised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its noteworthy and consequential achievements in tax administration and institutional reform.
In a speech delivered on Wednesday at the FIRS headquarters in Abuja as part of the IMF-supported Headquarters Mission, Paulo Paz, a Senior Economist at the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department, acknowledged the "good work" being done by FIRS under the leadership of Executive Chairman Zacch Adedeji.
As Paz pointed out, the agency is facing additional obstacles as a result of the four recently approved tax reform measures, but the Bretton Woods organisation is still determined to help. According to him, the importance of FIRS in national growth and tax mobilisation has been further enhanced by these legislation.
Please tell us how we might assist you in meeting this new challenge. "Our first step in addressing the four tax laws is to acknowledge the outstanding work that FIRS has been doing for the people," Paz stated.
The tax administration in Nigeria will become more relevant as a result of these formidable legislation, which come with both additional obligations and recognition.
"We congratulate you for the good results so far," he said, assuring FIRS of the IMF's sustained assistance. We are here to assist you, and there will be more.
Tayo Koleosho, chief of staff to FIRS chairman Zacch Adedeji, responded on behalf of the chairman by thanking the International Monetary Fund for its long-term support of the agency.
He highlighted the areas of portfolio management, digital transformation, VAT automation, and compliance enhancement where the relationship had shown to be very fruitful.
We are in a good position to continue the trip together, and the IMF has been a part of that, Koleosho added.
Next year, FIRS will be renamed the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), but he assured that the cooperation will remain in place.
Mrs. Bolaji Akintola, FIRS's Coordinating Director of the Corporate Services Group, also spoke at the event and reiterated the importance of the IMF in promoting changes to Nigeria's internal revenue system.
She mentioned that the agency carried out two reviews of the Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) from 2018 to 2023 with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
She emphasised that FIRS's dedication to institutional excellence was demonstrated by the 2023 TADAT findings, which demonstrated a significant improvement over 2018.
"If another TADAT is conducted today, the result will be better than that of 2023," she noted, stressing that President Bola Tinubu's tax reform law addresses and codifies key negative factors highlighted in the previous assessment.
In light of the increasing need for effective domestic resource mobilisation, the IMF-FIRS mission is anticipated to proceed with talks regarding the optimal means of supporting Nigeria's changing tax landscape.
Thanks for reading: Promising ongoing assistance with tax administration, the IMF praises FIRS for reform achievements