FIRS to prioritise digital economy taxation this year

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said it would give priority to the taxation of the digital economy this year. It added that it would deploy technological tools in assessing entities that fall within the Significant Economic Presence (SEP) threshold and relevant turnover generated from Nigeria.

Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami, disclosed this while speaking as a special guest at the Pedabo 2022 Annual Public-Private Sector Engagement, also said that the target of FIRS is to achieve 100 per cent automation of all its tax administration processes this year to block revenue leakages.

Nami noted that by the amendment to Section 25 of the FIRS (Establishment) Act of the 2021 Finance Act, any person who fails to grant the service access to its information technology systems to connect to its automated tax administration solution is liable to penalties.

“We will seek to achieve 100 per cent automation of all our tax administration processes, which will block revenue leakages and revolutionise revenue generation in the country. We expect your full cooperation in this regard, considering that by the amendment to Section 25 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act in the 2021 Finance Act, any person who fails to grant the Service access to its information technology systems to connect to its automated tax administration solution is liable to penalties,” he noted.

He had said that the Service had leveraged on the amendments to its enabling law to embark on “a major infrastructure overhaul, focusing on the deployment of technology for the automation of its processes and procedures,” thereby deploying its home-grown integrated tax administration system, TaxPro Max.

The FIRS boss in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media and Communication, Johannes Wojuola, stated that the Service “will focus on compliance and enforcement strategies in 2022, by leveraging on intelligence, strategic data mining and analysis, to enhance audit and investigation functions and implementing the penalty regimes following the laws.”

Nami called on taxpayers, consultants, collection agents and other stakeholders in the tax system to partner the FIRS to make taxation and tax revenue collection a pivot of economic growth and national development.