Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, has said that the achievement of the country’s developmental drive is dependent on prompt tax payments.
She stated this at the formal inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan in abuja. She noted that though Nigerians had high expectation of President Jonathan in terms of development as he was inaugurated for a fresh term in office, such expectation might remain a mirage without the appropriate revenue generated through taxation.
“Nigerians have a lot of expectation of what is expected of this country and as the Chairman of FIRS I will like to urge Nigerians that as we have these expectations, they should please pay their taxes timely and in a good manner so that we can begin to generate large funds that will really help in developing this country,” she stated.
Omogui-Okauru congratulated President Jonathan on his victory at the election and his inauguration and wished him the best in his next four years in office.
Meanwhile the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Federal Inland Revenue Service have decided to work together to ensure that taxes paid in the power sector are properly remitted and accounted for.
Both organisations reached this understanding at the third Distinguished Visitors Programme of the NERC that featured the Chairman, FIRS, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, who solicited partnership with the commission in building both organisations as enduring public institutions.
Both organisations have agreed to work out modalities for the establishment of a tax support desk in the NERC as a follow up to the agreement. Taxes being paid in the sector include the personal income tax, value added tax on power consumption as well as company income tax.
The Distinguish Visitor Programme is a platform created by the NERC where Nigerians with exemplary track records are invited to share their success stories with the commission’s workers.
Omoigui-Okauru, in her lecture, declared that her management approach was to ensure that the FIRS had the capacity to do what it was supposed to do.
“What we are doing is all about capacity building. It is about ensuring that the FIRS has capacity to do what it is supposed to do,” the FIRS boss said.
She said that the tax reform being spearheaded by the service would be better enhanced when Nigerians learnt to report and not just to complain about short comings and misdeeds.
She solicited Nigerians’ support for the Personal Income Tax Bill that was first presented to the immediate past National Assembly and re-presented to the outgoing lawmakers, but had yet to become a law.
In his remark, the Chairman, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said that the impending review of electricity tariff in the country would ensure that taxes paid in the power sector were accounted for and transparently remitted.
