The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in conjunction with the Afropolitan Media Limited, Tuesday trained 60 Kaduna based journalists on rudiments of taxation.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on the sensitaisation workshop titled “The role of FIRS in driving nation’s tax administration for nation building, Hajiya Aisha Umar Halilu, MD/CEO, Afropolitan Media Limited, said the one-day sensitisation workshop was to broaden the knowledge of journalists on tax matters.
“The workshop aims to bring participants up to date on current challenges faced by tax authorities like the FIRS and the importance of the media reporting these challenges.”
She also said the training which involved Journalists from the prints, broadcast and online would afford them the opportunity to ethically and responsibly in close collaboration with the FIRS and other tax bodies at the sub-national levels educate the public on the payment of taxes.
The resource person, Malam Maruf Ajibola in his presenting on tax said FIRS is the only arm of government that was given the legal backing to collect, assess and enforce the tax, but are not supposed to spend the tax money.
Ajibola said states are also mandated to have their revenue generation bodies and that they can equally enact tax laws on collection modalities.
Ajibola disclosed that some charges are illegal especially in the banking sector, hence the need for people to know so they can exercise their rights accordingly, describing most bank charges as criminal.
He also noted that there are chargeable and non-chargeable items, adding that some items that are religious, including basic Agric among other items are exempted, while some gets tax incentives so they can be encouraged to grow.
Ajibola also averred that tax in Nigeria is not as complex as it is in developed countries of the world such as the United States of America.
He disclosed that FIRS has other agencies they collaborate with to generate more income for Nigeria and Nigerians.
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