FIRS boss renew calls for the amendment of nation’s tax laws

The Chairman Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Nami Muhammade has again reiterated the need for the amendment of the country’s tax laws, saying most of them date back to pre-independence times.

Nami made the plea recently in Abuja when he made a presentation titled, “Weathering Economic Turbulence,” at an interactive session with stakeholders.

He disclosed that receipts from tax, which were previously supplementary, now account for about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s total revenue, adding that other revenue lines, including oil, accounted for just 30 per cent of the country’s revenue.

The FIRS boss stressed that the country’s revenue situation was very dire, explaining that Nigeria has always relied on oil revenue for its budgetary needs, with little regard for revenue from tax.

According to him, the fall in oil prices, reduction of production quota, and oil theft had reduced the country’s revenue to critical levels.

He revealed that the total Federation Account revenue for June 2020 was just N696 billion (about $2 billion), “which is equivalent to what a county in the United States spends.”