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Panel seeks merger of Customs, FIRS
To ensure accountability and improve revenue generation, the National Tax Policy Review Committee has advised the Federal Government to merge the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Presenting draft of the policy at the Committee’s second stakeholders engagement in Abuja on Tuesday, West Africa Tax Leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, explained that the committee agreed that the current system promoted multitaxation, tax evasion and wastage.
He said:: “Part of our recommendation will be that FIRS and Customs should be merged; but not just them, but all revenue generating agencies at the federal level should be merged into one.”
Oyedele explained that what exists now is not effective, adding that it duplicates the collection mechanism. “All the structures you have in FIRS is replicated in Customs, so cost of collection goes up. It also makes it easier for tax evaders to manipulate the system. You can provide information for customs and FIRS is not aware of it”.
He said having one revenue agency “will flag all the information about a tax payer when he or she is paying tax. It will also ensure that leakages in the system are reduced. This is why we are recommending merger as part of the policy.”
The policy was first published in 2012 by the then Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to entrench a robust and efficient tax system in Nigeria.
Oyedele said, “Part of our recommendations will be that the FIRS and the Customs should be merged; but not just them, but all revenue generating agencies at the federal level should be merged into one.
“What we have right now is not effective because it duplicates the collection mechanism. All the structures you have in the FIRS are replicated in the Customs; so, the cost of collection goes up. It also makes it easier for tax evaders to manipulate the system. You can provide information for the Customs and the FIRS is not aware of it.
“So if you have one revenue agency, it will flag all the information about a taxpayer when he or she is paying tax. It will also ensure that leakages in the system are reduced. This is why we are recommending merger of the agencies as part of the policy.”
Oyedele said that the committee was also recommending that a tax amnesty programme should be introduced by the Federal Government in order to widen the tax net.
He said currently, some companies and individuals were not willing to join the tax system for fear of being asked to pay huge accumulated tax liabilities.
He explained that a tax amnesty would assure that past offences would be forgiven, thus assisting the government to generate more revenue.
Other key recommendations of the draft policy include establishment of tax committee at the national level as well as administrative framework for amnesty and whistleblowing.
Sanni said the need to increase the level of revenue generation informed the decision of the committee.
He said, “Our ultimate goal is to have a revised document that is slim, simple and concise; a document, which will impose duties and responsibilities on all organs of government.
“We envision a document that will eventually give a new lease of life to the Nigerian tax system and meet our taxation objective within the context of the peculiar Nigerian environment.”
Sanni said that the revised policy draft would be finalised at a retreat today (Wednesday) at which it would be submitted to the Finance minister for onward transmission to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
