Tax bills not targeted at merging agencies, job cut – FIRS

The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr Zaccheus Adedeji, on Wednesday, said that tax reform bills recently transmitted to the National Assembly are not for the introduction of new taxes into the nation’s tax books nor for merging of government agencies.

He also ruled out fears that executive bills could bring about job losses as well as lead to increased taxation.

He disclosed this at a meeting with the House Committee on Finance ahead of the second reading of the bills on Thursday.

He said “We want to harmonise all the tax laws because we have tax laws scattered in different tax laws and different establishment laws passed. The implication of that is the multiplicity of taxes that people talk about because each agency that has tax law must implement that tax law.

“This is not about merging agencies of government and certainly it will not bring about job losses.

“No agency is superior to the other and you cannot ask one agency not to carry out the order. So, Mr President saw that this is not good for the economy and the only way to do that is to harmonise all the tax laws and have them in one place.

“The other reason is to organise the fiscal framework in the country. As we stand today, there is no law anywhere to actually regulate or monitor cryptocurrency.  We are in a global community and there is no way we can exclude ourselves from what is happening globally.  So, one be of the hills is to organise fiscal efficiency in the fiscal framework.”

According to the FIRS boss, the Federal Government is very serious about efficiency in public spending, saying, “Prior to the implementation of the Treasury Single Account, the government will have money in one bank and be borrowing from another because we didn’t have the holistic view.

“But when TSA was implemented, it gave us a holistic view of where government monies are. With that, you will not have money in one bank and be borrowing from another.”

He continued, “Another principle is to improve the transparency and integrity of revenue collection and there is nothing that we will do than understand the laws so that they will be very simple to comply with.

“We also want to complete our tax laws to represent the current realities that we have. Currently, we are using the tax integrity test of 1939 when there was no internet and no online shopping.  In other to align ourselves with current realities, it is the wisdom of Mr President that all these bills be implemented. We also want to align ourselves with international standards.

“Nigeria is a destination for investment where people will consider where will give them the best return on their investment. One of the things to consider is the fiscal framework for the destination of their investment. To align ourselves with the international standard and attract investment into Nigeria, Mr President presented these bills.

“It is also aimed at broadening our tax laws and Mr President has said he is not interested in taxing poverty and inflation.

“We will never increase either the rate or the number of taxes. In fact, it is the belief of the president that the taxes we have now should be harmonized. This is what has been put together in the bills that have been sent to the House.”

Speaking on the separate bills, Mr Adedeji said, “In terms of the structure, we have the Nigeria Tax Act which will harmonise all tax laws in the country and put them in one book.  What this will do is that all the multiplicity of taxes will be reduced because we will now have them in one book.

“The second is the Nigeria Tax Administration Act which will harmonise the administration of all taxes which spelt out what tax should be paid, and at what time. This is to ensure uniformity.

“The Nigeria Revenue Service Act repeals the FIRS Act and brings the service to where it is already. Today, you call us the Federal Inland Revenue Service as if we only collect money for the federal government or collect money in Nigeria.

“It was like that when the service was established, but today, one of the revenues we collect is Value Added Tax and 85 per cent of this VAT goes to the states. So, what we are doing is not in line with what you call us.

Adedeji added “Today, we collect online charges for Jumia, google and others. As Nigeria Revenue Service, we can collect any revenue whether in Nigeria or outside Nigeria.

“The last one is the Joint Revenue Board because there is the need for us to have a strong legal framework through which we can resolve amicably issues of conflict between the states and local government as far as revenue generation and sharing is concerned.

“It is the wisdom of the President that this is what we need at this time to lay a foundation for a solid economy.”

Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, and member representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, Lagos State, James Faleke said the aim of the meeting was to give members first-hand information on the necessity of the bills so that they can make informed contributions when the bills come up for second reading on the floor of the Green Chamber at plenary.