The Federal Capital Territory-Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has indicated that its targed for 2024, stands at N250 billion as revenue to be generated for the fiscal year
The Ag. executive Chairman of the service, Mr. Haruna Abdullahi gave the indication on wednesday during the 2023 Annual Press briefing at the service headquarters, Garki Abuja.
“For the year 2024, FCT-IRS has a target of N250 billion, we are determined and optimistic that we will realize and surpass that, with the committed and dedicated staff of the Service, support support from the FCT Administration, the National Assembly and other key stakeholders especially our esteemed taxpayers.
He said the target is achievable and the task ahead is surmountable.
FCT-IRS targets N250b revenue in 2024 fiscal year
According to him, the Tax Revenue Collection of the FCT-IRS grew from barely N46 billion in 2017 to over N124 billion in 2022 indicating over 270% growth.
“At this point, I would like to inform the general public that as at 19th December 2023, the FCT-IRS for the first time since its inception in 2015 has exceeded the N200 billion mark by generating the sum of N203,147,090,410.5 as annual revenue for the year 2023.
“This is a huge milestone for the Service and it represents about 63.34% increase in collection from the preceding year.”
He indicated that from January 2024, the Service shall embark on intensive enforcement exercise by ensuring that all relevant provisions of the tax laws are strictly complied with accordingly.
“For avoidance of doubt, section 32 of FCT-IRS Act, 2015 empowers the Chairman of the Service to authorize any Officer of the Service to have free access to properties and records of taxpayers for the purpose of compliance with the tax laws. “The Service will not only hesitate to prosecute tax offenders through the instrumentality of the law but will ensure that all tax due to FCT are recovered.
“To comply with the ease of doing business initiative, the Service will open more tax offices across the six Area Councils in FCT and at strategic locations or centers within the metropolis for convenience of the taxpayers.
He said the service will further streamline services, making the tax offices accessible to a broader population and contributing to overall organizational growth. “Additionally, a state of the art headquarters will be constructed, not only to provide for coordination of operations but also reflect our commitment to excellence.
“To attract and retain young talents, the Service will embark on providing targeted training programmes towards ensuring employees stay updated with industry trends and by also providing staff with modern working tools to foster efficiency and innovation.
“At the end of the growth stage, the Service would have achieved its vision of being a model Internal Revenue Service serving as a benchmark for Africa.
“Under the consolidation stage which is from January 2029 to December 2034, the Service should be operating on a sustainable level with a global vision of competing with revenue authorities around the world.”
Continuing, he said, the Service will further employ the use of technology to enhance its operations mainly in the area of compliance, enforcement and also seek to consolidate the culture of transparency and accountability in order to build trust and cooperation between the service and the taxpayers.
“The focus will be in the deployment of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, collaboration tools, business process automation and data analytical tools to facilitate compliance and performance of routine tasks aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance and ease of doing business.”
He indicated that taxpayer base has grown from about 543,969 for individuals and 284,746 for non-individual in 2015 to 1,108,162 for individuals and 389,981 for non-individuals in 2023.
“In collaboration with other sister agencies in the FCT, the FCT-IRS has commenced enforcement of Section 85 of the Personal Income Tax Act, 2011 (as amended) and Section 31 of the FCT IRS Act, 2015 for MDAs, FCT SDAs, Commercial Banks, and other Corporate bodies to demand and verify TCC as precondition for rendering services in FCT.
“The Growth Stage of the Service is from January 2024 to December 2028, the Service targets to achieve annual revenue benchmark of N500 billion by the end of the second stage (growth stage).
“The strategies will include; optimization of the current revenue streams, operationalization of non-performing tax types and strategic tax audit of individuals and non-individuals.
“The Service intends to improve taxpayer base through tax education, town hall meetings, media engagements, inter-agency collaboration within FCT SDAs and other key stakeholders such as FIRS, JTB, Tax Practitioners, Development Partners and other Professional Bodies.”
“As part of our efforts to ensure compliance with filing of returns, the Service will in accordance with the tax laws apply penalty for non-filing of annual returns by 31st January of every year for employers and 31st March of every year for individuals. “A comprehensive reassessment of returns will be intensified, which will be followed by constant monitoring and compliance exercises.”
“From inception, the emphasis has been on driving the Service using technology. The Service has invested in modern working tools such as hardware and software.
“The processes of registration, payment, receipting, assessment, Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) issuance, filing of returns, TCC verification, and generation of withholding tax credit note have all been automated.
“In order to encourage voluntary compliance and to allow taxpayers perform their tax obligations at the comfort of their homes or offices, the FCT-IRS Self Service portal (www.fctirs.gov.ng) enables Taxpayers to perform functions such as; request for Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), file annual returns, make payment and request for TCC.”