The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has released date showing that the 36 states of the federation grew their revenue collection from N800.02 billion in 2016 to N1.6 trillion in 2018, representing a 46.11 per cent rise.
The chairman of FIRS, Mr. Babatunde Fowler, who also chairs the Joint Tax Board (JTB), attributed the boost in states’ revenue collection to the attendant impact of the economic policies of the federal government.
Speaking at the North-central regional flag-off of the new Tax Identification Number (TIN) Registration System and National Consolidated Taxpayer Database, held in Ilorin, Kwara State, Fowler also attributed the increase to the expansion of the national tax base from 10 million to 20 million which is expected to rise to 45 million by December.
Besides the states, he said federal revenue jumped from N3. 30 trillion in 2016 to N5. 32 trillion in 2018, representing 53.81 per cent.
The FIRS chief also disclosed that non-oil revenue climbed to N2. 85 trillion equivalent of 54 per cent of total revenue generation.
He explained that the new TIN registration system is underpinned by a common desire by stakeholders to drive the financial regeneration of the country.
He also said the choice of Kwara State for the north-central regional flag-off of the new tax policy was strategic.
The state, he said, had, over the last four years, been a leading light in ensuring sustainable internally generated revenue profile for itself and the region.
“Having achieved a 221 per cent increase in its collection from N7.1 billion in 2015 at the time of attaining its autonomous status to N23 billion in 2018, Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) has become a benchmark for revenue authorities not just within the North-central Region, but nationwide as well.
“It is worthy of note that KWIRS is the only state revenue agency in the country to have been ISO certified, with ISO 9001 for Quality Management System and ISO/IEC 22301 for Business Continuity Management System,” he said.
He added that other states in the region were not left behind.
He noted that Niger and Nasarawa states were among the top 15 states with an annual growth rate in excess of 20 per cent.
Thereafter, he commented on why the agency was passionate about the new tax registration system and the need for all stakeholders to embrace it and cooperate to make it successful.
“The new TIN registration system would improve the efficiency and output of the entire tax administration process and enhance convenience to the taxpayers as well as the tax administrators while guaranteeing that each taxpayer’s details are readily available to them at all times and anywhere.
“A significant feature of the new system is that it possesses the capability to integrate with all relevant agencies by leveraging on already captured data. With its ability to deploy analytics to discover underlying correlating trends and patterns, better visibility of the taxpayer is assured inherently leading to increased internally generated revenue (igr) for all tiers of government.
“Thus, the new system reduces the burden of taxpayer information management while at the same time significantly reducing the cost of collection,” he said.
