From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Joint Finance Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday commended the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, for leading the agency to surpass its 2024 revenue collection target of N19.4 trillion to N21.6 trillion.
It urged it to improve on the feat by targeting N25 trillion revenue generation in the 2025 fiscal year.
Following the disclosure by the FIRS boss, the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon Saidu Musa Abdullahi, described the performance as unprecedented.
“The feat attained by FIRS on revenue collection or generation in 2024 was unprecedented and a very wonderful one, worthy of commendation.
“That you surpassed the target set for the agency in the 2024 Appropriation Act, from N19.4 trillion to N21.6 trillion, is very cheering and encouraging,” he said.
However, he urged the FIRS boss to understudy the template being used in South Africa which he said generates revenue from tax collections far above that of Nigeria despite having a smaller population when compared to Nigeria’s 200 million.
He assured him that the legislature will give him total support on tax reform but tasked him to “bring in more number of taxable citizens into net from the informal sector.”
In his comments, Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas (PDP, Delta South) charged FIRS to deepen the collection process through planned reform, noting that countries around the world are turning to taxes for revenue.
Going further, he suggested that the committee should increase projected revenue for FIRS in 2025 to N30 trillion.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Sani Musa, urged the FIRS to meet the N25 trillion projected revenue set for it in 2025, saying “It is achievable and even surpassable.”