The Nyesom Wike-led Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced plans to establish more tax offices around Abuja as part of efforts to collect more taxes and improve internally generated revenue (IGR).
This was disclosed by the Acting Executive Chairman of the FCT Internal Revenue Service, Mr Haruna Abdullahi, during a press briefing at the agency’s office in Abuja.
According to him, starting from January 2024, the agency will embark on an intensive enforcement exercise by ensuring that all relevant provisions of the tax laws are strictly complied with.
He stressed that the Service will not only hesitate to prosecute tax offenders through the instrumentality of the law but will ensure that all tax due to FCT are recovered.
Haruna said the service would open “more tax offices across the six Area Councils in FCT and at strategic locations or centers within the metropolis for convenience of the taxpayers and further streamline services, making the tax offices accessible to a broader population and contributing to overall organizational growth.”
On the performance of the agency this year, he revealed that the taxpayer base has grown from about 543,969 for individuals and 284,746 for non-individuals in 2015 to 1,108,162 and 389,981 in 2023, respectively.
“The Tax Revenue Collection of the FCT-IRS grew from barely N46 billion in 2017 to over N124 billion in 2022 indicating over 270% growth. As of 19th December 2023, the FCT-IRS for the first time since its inception in 2015 has exceeded the N200 billion mark by generating the sum of N203,147,090,410.5 as annual revenue for the year 2023.
“This is a huge milestone for the Service and it represents about 63.34% increase in collection from the preceding year,” said Haruna.
He added that with the enforcement of several tax initiatives as directed by Wike, the agency will generate nothing less than 250 billion naira in 2024.
“For the year 2024, FCT-IRS has a target of N250 billion (Two-hundred and Fifty Billion Naira), we are determined and optimistic that we will realize and surpass that.”
(Opera)