FIRS Assures Taxpayers Of Friendly Tax Administration

Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, has assured Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) Nigeria Plc and other operators in the telecom sector of a tax administration that is friendly, customer-centric that will help businesses to flourish.

Adedeji gave the assurance while receiving the chief executive officer of MTN Nigeria Plc, Mr Karl Toriola, who led the management team of the company on a visit to the Revenue House in Abuja, on Tuesday.

The FIRS chairman said his resolve to create an environment of growth by removing every obstacle in the way of corporate entities was in line with the directive of President Bola Tinubu.

The FIRS chairman said the agency is carrying out a restructuring leading to the creation of a one-stop shop for taxpayers according to their turnover thresholds as part of measures aimed at easing payment of taxes.

“The way we are structured now is that we have large taxpayers’ groups, medium and small. Those in the large tax group are companies with turnover of N5b and above and I know that is where MTN belongs.

“In the large tax category, you will now be required to pay all your taxes, including Company Income Tax, VAT and others in that one-stop shop where you can also have issues relating to audit sorted.

“Essentially, the issue of multiple letters from various units within FIRS over almost the same matter has been taken off the system with the restructuring that we have done. We are now focused on providing the needed service to our customers,” Adedeji said in a statement by his media adviser Dare Adekanmbi.

He said the relationship between FIRS and the taxpayers is symbiotic, adding that the existence of the taxpayers actually determines the existence of the tax watchdog.

Earlier, Toriola pledged the support of the company towards the initiatives of the federal government and FIRS in increasing tax revenue.

“We are also here to pledge our support as MTN Nigeria Plc towards the initiatives of the federal government of Nigeria and also for the organisation towards making sure that you increase the tax revenue base of Nigeria.

“Unlike many other organisations, we have a physical presence in every single local government in Nigeria, and we impact the lives of almost everyone living in Nigeria.

“Over the years, through various administrations, we have taken pride in always being a partner and ally to the Federal Government and we do so by ensuring that we pay our taxes on time. We will never deliberately avoid taxes.

“We will show every flexibility to support the various initiatives. As MTN Nigeria, we understand the kind of challenges the nation is facing, and we are here to be partners in getting the economy in its right place,” Toriola said.