The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, has inaugurated a team of tax experts charged with the responsibility for implementation of the National Tax Policy.
The inauguration, which is in line with the Federal Government’s determination to reform Nigeria’s tax system towards effective economic growth, took place at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
Chairman of the Committee who is also the Executive Chairman of FIRS and Chairman of the Joint Tax Board, JTB, Babatunde Fowler also inaugurated a Technical Tax Policy Drafting Committee which began a workshop on National Tax Policy Implementation.
Fowler said he inaugurated the Technical Tax Policy Drafting Committee same day following the importance and urgency of its assignment to national economy.
Fowler charged the Technical Committee to work harmoniously and assiduously in order to come up with a tax policy document that will address sustainability in revenue generation, identify new and enhanced enforcement of existing revenue streams and achieve cohesion in the revenue ecosystem.
“I am charging the chairman and members of the Technical Committee with the responsibility of accelerating the drafting and submission of a draft Finance Bill (and if deemed necessary, any draft Executive Order(s), to harmonise the various tax and excise law reform efforts. It is our expectation that the Technical Committee will work assiduously over the next few weeks to produce a singular set of fiscal measures that will be considered and approved by the reconstituted NTPIC. Once agreed, these fiscal measures are to be submitted to the Economic Management Team and the Federal Executive Council for approval and ultimate transmission to the National Assembly, for passage into law as part of the efforts to support the 2020 Executive Budget Proposal,” Fawler said.
Adeyemi Dipeolu, chairman of the Technical Committee, said he understood the magnitude of the assignment given to him and his committee members and promised that they would work hard to achieve a good result.
He assured that a meeting of the Technical Tax Policy Drafting Committee will be convened immediately after the inauguration, adding that “We understand the challenges facing the economy and we will work together to produce a draft tax policy document that will address the challenges.”
Foreign tax stakeholders in Nigeria such as the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Department for International Development, DFID were represented at the event. They commended the initiative and offered some insight towards achieving the project.
Country representative of the IMF, Amine Mati, said reform of Nigeria’s tax system is number one in the IMF’s blueprint on the country’s economy.
Mati suggested that the committee should look into Value Added Tax, VAT laws and also ways to further improve non-oil revenue for the country.
