Niger Govt. flag-off revenue harmonisation in Suleja
As part of efforts to block leakages and boost revenue generation, Niger state Internal Revenue Service (NGSIRS), has flag-off harmonisation of revenue collection aimed at reducing multiplicity of taxes between tiers of government.
Chairman of the Niger state Internal Revenue Generation, Mohammed Madami Etsu, said at the official flag-off in Suleja that the efforts was to block leakages and boost revenue generation for the state.
The Chairman, who was represented by Acting Group Head, Tax Operation, NGSIRS, Aminu Baba, added that the efforts was to make collection process less cumbersome and consolidated to attract more investors.
“The practice in the past was that, the state government will come and collect taxes, levies and charges and the local government staff will also come to collect their own.
“At the end of the day, you will see so much uncertainty in the system on who is paying what and who is responsible for what.
“Tax harmonisation will give a consolidated back notice containing all taxes, levies and charges of what business owners are to pay to the state and local governments in a year,” he said.
He said henceforth, all tax collections will be done through ICT platforms and Points of Sales (POS) terminals to give tax payers confidence that their monies are going directly into state government confer.
He added that the process will give tax payers ideas of how much they were to pay for a year without having to live in fear of uncertainty as well as reduce the burden on tax payers.
In his remarks, Chairman of Suleja Local Government Area, Alhaji Ishaku Bawa Ibn, described the tax harmonisation as a welcome development and pledged the council total support to increase revenue generation for the state.
“We have already sensitised our people and various associations that cash collection as revenue is not longer accepted,” he said.
Also, Malam Masu Danjuma, Consultant Preasumtive Tax with NGSIRS, said Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago was poised to see that the state come top 10 among revenue generation states and Suleja was one of the priority area to help in achieving the New Niger agenda.
