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Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Tunde Fowler, has declared that the reconstitution of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee (NTPIC) would lead to a boost in the country’s non-oil revenue.
Fowler, who made the declaration yesterday at the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted NPTIC in Abuja, noted that for the country’s revenue base to grow, there is a need for the improvement in non-oil tax revenues.
He explained that the ongoing tax reform gained further impetus under the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGIs), which he said are focused on three key thematic areas: Achieving sustainability in revenue generation, identifying new and enhancing the enforcement of existing revenue streams as well as achieving cohesion in the revenue ecosystem.
“The SRGIs proposed to develop and propose tax laws targeted at emerging, digital economies as well as review existing tax laws to close legal loopholes for taxes by adopting a sectoral, rules-based approach.
“Specifically, the FIRS was charged with reviewing existing tax laws to close legal loopholes for taxes by adopting a sectoral, rules-based approach and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was asked to review extant customs and excise laws to bring these in line with global practices,” he explained.
To ensure the tax laws and excise reforms under SRGIs are appropriately anchored by the leadership of FIRS and NCS, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the former Finance Minister, in May, reconstituted the NTPIC under the leadership of Fowler as Chairman and Comptroller-General of Customs as Deputy Chairman.
Other members of the Committee are drawn from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Debt Management Office, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Bureau of Statistics and the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, among others.
According to Fowler, the Technical Tax Policy Drafting Committee was set up to support the work of the Reconstituted NTPIC, chaired by Ambassador Adeyemi Dipeolu with Dr. Oyebode Oyetunde as Deputy Chairman.
Mr. Simon Kato is the Secretary. Other members are Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Dr. Mike Abani, Ms. Rukaiyah el-Rufai, Ms. Nabila Aguele, Ms. Edirin Akemu, Professor Abiola Sanni, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, Mr. Ajibola Olomola, Mr. Oluseye Arowolo and Mr. Albert Folorunsho.
He charged the committee to accelerate the development and submission of a draft Finance Bill to harmonise the various tax and excise law reform efforts.
“It is our expectation that the Technical Committee will work assiduously over the next few weeks to produce a singular set of fiscal measures that will be considered and approved by the reconstituted NTPIC.”
