The Nigerian government has revealed that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will begin the collection of taxes usually collected by 63 agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Taiwo Oyedele, head of the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms, disclosed this in an interview with Channels TV on Wednesday.
Oyedele said this meant the customs would now focus on trade facilitation and border protection, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on regulating telecommunications, as they were not set up to collect revenue.
He explained that agencies are being distracted from doing their primary function, which is to facilitate the economy as they were not set up to collect revenue. So, they are unable to collect revenue efficiently.
He also counted the advantages of thi snew arrangement to include; an improvement in the cost of collection and efficiency, and also mentioned that it will help the agencies focus on their work, thereby benefitting the economy.
