The Federal government has turned on the heat on the Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) to meet the N4.957 trillion tax target for 2016.
A statement from the FIRS signed by Wahab Gbadamosi, Head, Communication and Servicom Department said the minister of finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, handed out the marching order Wednesday in Abuja at the second day of the 2016 Annual Corporate Strategy Retreat of the FIRS.
The finance minister was said to have categorically warned the FIRS that “there is no room for failure over FIRS’s attainment of its 2016 target of N4.97 trillion to the Federal Government.”
According to the finance minister, “there is really no room for failure. Please ensure you deliver. The nation will depend on FIRS to fund the budget. We need the money to stabilise the economy.”
She told staff of the FIRS that “this is not a joke. We need everybody to do his/her beat to ensure that everybody contributes to the achievement of the target. I look forward to the excellent ideas that will improve revenue generation as you proceed in this retreat.”
Adeosun further told the FIRS staff that “in addition to your professional pride, and the satisfaction you may derive from working for FIRS as a professional, please note that you are also building the nation by realising the target and by being professional, honest and dedicated in the way you do your work. This is what the nation needs now.”
She acknowledged the strides the FIRS has made in the past and the successes it had attained since its new Chairman, Tunde Fowler resumed. “I know your chairman as an achiever. He did very well in Lagos. Work with him. He will do well here. He is one person who has the welfare of staff on his mind.”
In his address, the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mr Tunde Fowler said, the Service is collaborating with State Governments, tax consultants, major audit firms, stakeholders in the federal system, including the National Assembly.
He said the tax agency is undertaking a nationwide Value Added Tax and Witholding Tax Monitoring exercise and nationwide taxpayer registration exercise anchored by the FIRS Federal Engagement and Enlightenment Tax Teams, (FEETT).
