FCT Minister Seeks FIRS Assistance on Revenue Leakages
- By Simeon Ogoegbulem
- Published May 3rd, 2010
- News
- Unrated
Senator Bala Mohammed, minister of the Federal Capital Administration, has asked the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to assist his ministry in plugging revenue leakages in the FCTA. Bala who spoke at the Joint Tax Board meeting in Abuja said the ministry will appreciate strategies from FIRS to halt revenue leakages from the Federal Capital Territory.
There has been growing concern over the non-remittance of revenue by relevant agencies to government in recent times. Analysts said the issue of revenue leakage is not peculiar to the FCTA but is also applicable to all tiers of government in the country. Bala also urged the management of FIRS to help in creating a revenue board in FCT for effective revenue collection. FCT has yet to have a Revenue Board since its establishment.
Earlier, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, chairman of FIRS said the JTB is working towards tackling the problem of multiple taxation in the country. The rising cases of multiple taxation came to the fore recently following the strike embarked upon by the Amalgamated Food Stuff and Cattle Dealers Association of Nigeria (AFSCDA) and the complaints of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators in Nigeria (Alton).
The multiple taxation which has resulted in high cost of doing business, according to her, has already culminated in some organization relocating. Besides, it has led to the retrenchment of some workers. Her words: “It is going to be on the situation of multiple taxation in the country. It was occasioned because members of NEC saw it as an urgent major priority. They want to understand what the issues were that led to the strike and consequent of that meeting a more formal presentation will now be made at the next NEC.
Omoigui-Okauru pointed out that the insecurity in the country has unsettled the Federal Government that last year raised a committee on the Police Reform and mandated her to chair the sub-committee on the Funding of Police Reform. She explained that the committee estimated to spend N1.5trillion on its requirement for funding security in the next six years and appropriated N900billion to the public sector through tax and asked her to shop from N600billion from the private sector.
There has been growing concern over the non-remittance of revenue by relevant agencies to government in recent times. Analysts said the issue of revenue leakage is not peculiar to the FCTA but is also applicable to all tiers of government in the country. Bala also urged the management of FIRS to help in creating a revenue board in FCT for effective revenue collection. FCT has yet to have a Revenue Board since its establishment.
Earlier, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, chairman of FIRS said the JTB is working towards tackling the problem of multiple taxation in the country. The rising cases of multiple taxation came to the fore recently following the strike embarked upon by the Amalgamated Food Stuff and Cattle Dealers Association of Nigeria (AFSCDA) and the complaints of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators in Nigeria (Alton).
The multiple taxation which has resulted in high cost of doing business, according to her, has already culminated in some organization relocating. Besides, it has led to the retrenchment of some workers. Her words: “It is going to be on the situation of multiple taxation in the country. It was occasioned because members of NEC saw it as an urgent major priority. They want to understand what the issues were that led to the strike and consequent of that meeting a more formal presentation will now be made at the next NEC.
Omoigui-Okauru pointed out that the insecurity in the country has unsettled the Federal Government that last year raised a committee on the Police Reform and mandated her to chair the sub-committee on the Funding of Police Reform. She explained that the committee estimated to spend N1.5trillion on its requirement for funding security in the next six years and appropriated N900billion to the public sector through tax and asked her to shop from N600billion from the private sector.
