Chairman of Ondo State Board of Internal Revenue Service, Akin Akinsehinwa, has revealed that the state generated not less than N10 billion between January and November.
Akinsehinwa, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Akure, said that the amount was 85 per cent of the amount targeted for the year.
He said that much effort had to be injected on the IGR because of the dwindling resources accruing to it from the Federation Account.
According to him,“We have been swimming against the tide since January because of the drastic drop in amount we get from the federation account; this has adverse effects on the economy of the state.
“Being a civil service state, this has led to irregular payment of workers’ salaries and has hindered the flow of income to the board.
“When economic activities are not booming we are constrained to adjust and slow down a bit so that we do not put too much pressure on the citizenry”
Akinsehinwa also said that the board had re-strategised on how to increase government revenue by looking at other areas.
“The board is proactive and dynamic and we are looking on how we can generate more revenue. We started with vehicle registration in June and realised a lot from it.
We have just started enforcing the Land Use Act enacted last year by the Ondo State House of Assembly.
We have informed the various landlords’ associations and stakeholders’ meeting had been held in that regard. The full enforcement will start either this month or in Jan. 2016,” he said.
Akinsehinwa added that the state government had decided to set up a special court to try tax offenders.
He said, however, that the court had not begun sitting because government wanted to ensure that qualified and committed personnel were drafted to the court.
