Taxes: FG Plans Single Revenue Platform For States

The federal government has said it is working on building a single revenue generation platform for national implementation of tax administration. The plan is to shift away from the current multiple taxation system that has been described as counterproductive.

The government said it intends to develop a template of code for fiscal laws for sub-national governments to adopt so that they can have a single piece of information that covers everything at the state level and at the local level which people can reference.

“We are building a bigger platform for revenue administration in Nigeria generally. And again, this has to be, you know, has to be  Championed by the joint tax board. We have a new policy coordination, exchange and  information and capacity development,” chairman, presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms committee Taiwo Oyedele stated at a retreat for staff of Joint Tax Board (JTB) in Abuja.

“So because we have  had this high turnover, especially for the share pricing of the internal revenue services. It will be good for the joint tax  Board’s  to sign in that job of ensuring   That you have an induction program for head of internal revenue services. That is to say, head of the cost of service and all the members of the joint tax board,” Mr Oyedele said. “So it is not just internal revenue services. One that is a new person is offered to do the induction process. Even if it is just one person. That you go through a number of items, of techniques.”

Also speaking at the event, Secretary of the JTB Mr Olusegun Adesokan, emphasised the significance of getting staff members ready for the current and evolving tax environment. He said the organisation is set to summit some of its reports to the presidency soon and that one of its major advocacies is for a total digitalisation of tax administration for effectiveness.

He added that another  goal of the retreat was for  the JTB Secretariat staff to fully imbibe the culture of collaboration and innovation, to enable full understanding of their role under the emerging dispensation.

He said “One of the things we have realised is that we need to retrain and re-culture our staff to prepare for the new and emerging tax landscape. Because this committee, and the Tax Presidential Committee will be submitting some of its report very soon, and this committee is advocating for a total digitalisation of tax administration in Nigeria.”

He said the government has realised the need to retrain and re-culture the staff of the board to make them more effective and conscious of their mandate. He stressed on the need for the staffers to prepare for the new and emerging tax landscape. “Because this committee, and the Tax Presidential Committee will be submitting some of its report very soon, and this committee is advocating for a total digitalisation of tax administration in Nigeria,” Adesokan said.