Nigeria needs law to overhaul revenue collection, regulate cryptocurrency landscape – FIRS chairman

An Executive Bill seeking to overhaul revenue administration in Nigeria, including the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, is being prepared for transmission to the National Assembly, the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, has disclosed.

Adedeji made the disclosure on Saturday during a stakeholders’ engagement with a joint committee of the National Assembly on Finance held at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

A statement by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to Adedeji, quoted the FIRS chairman as saying that the aim of the bill is to simplify tax laws, harmonise the collection of revenue, and replace obsolete tax laws with new ones in line with current economic realities.

“By the special grace of the Almighty God, we will bring a bill for a law to overhaul the whole process of revenue administration in Nigeria. Part of what we intend to achieve with this is to harmonise revenue collection, making tax laws very simple to understand and to be in tune with our current realities.

“For example, the Stamp Duty Act was made in 1939 when there was no internet connectivity or any of the features of modern society as we have it now. Even in 1939, states and local government councils had not been created.

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“So, we need to bring that law up to date. This is one of the reasons President Bola Tinubu set up the Taiwo Oyedele-led Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee to look into all these laws and make recommendations.

“Today, we cannot run away from the cryptocurrency ecosystem because it is the in-thing. But as it stands in Nigeria today, there is no law that regulates cryptocurrency operations. We need a law that regulates that area of our economy. This is why we are having this engagement with the legislators. We will regulate it in a way that is not injurious to the economic development of Nigeria.

“These are some of the things we are bringing together in an Executive Bill to overhaul revenue administration for the development of the country,” the FIRS chairman said.

On the revenue target of N19.4 trillion set for FIRS in 2024, Adedeji said the revenue-collection agency is on course to achieve the target.

“We set a target of N19.4 trillion for ourselves. We are almost in the third quarter of the year, and with the figures we are seeing so far, I can say we are on the path of achieving our target,” he said.

Commending FIRS for organising the stakeholders’ meeting, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, opined that FIRS should be the regulating and collecting agency for all taxes for the federation, noting that the National Single Window programme will address the inefficiency in revenue collection in the country.

“This is another opportunity for us as lawmakers to listen, learn, and contribute on how best to support the FIRS to achieve its target. It is also an opportunity for FIRS to share its challenges, successes, and strategies for the future.

“By working together, we can ensure that FIRS is fully equipped to maximise not only collection but also provide the needed resources for national development and public welfare,” Musa said.

His counterpart in the House of Representatives, James Faleke, who was represented by Kalejaiye Paul, commended Adedeji’s leadership at FIRS.

According to him, the effective collaboration between FIRS and the joint committee of the National Assembly on Finance is a positive development.

“It is very important to note that everyone wants to go to heaven, but they don’t want to die. Everyone wants improvement and development in the Federation, but nobody wants to contribute to the purse. We are much more interested in sharing, but nobody wants to contribute, forgetting that the developed nations we talk about today were developed based on the resources that every citizen put into the purse.

“That, of course, is a task that is challenging for the FIRS. But I must commend the civility and professionalism with which the FIRS carries out its responsibilities because in a time like this, the most difficult thing to do is to ask people to pay.

“Like the Chairman Senate Committee said, I want to say that the House of Representatives will be there for you all the time. We will cooperate and collaborate with you in moving Nigeria forward,” Faleke added.