Babatunde Fowler, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has attributed the success of revenue collection in the country to the adoption of technology which has enhanced the process and provided relevant information to taxpayers.
This was disclosed by the FIRS boss at the Nigeria e-Government Conference in Lagos.
[READ MORE: FIRS announces N4 trillion revenue, as Fowler seeks law to jail Tax Evaders]
According to Fowler, the process of e-registration, payment of stamp duty and Value Added Tax have beciome fully automated compared to 2016 when these services were manually done.
“Now, with all these initiatives put in place, our revenue has gone up tremendously, comparing it from 2015 to now. So, this goes to tell you that the FIRS is all about innovation and we are all about continuously improving our technology to better serve the taxpaying public and to serve the nation as a whole,” he said.
Giving an appraisal of his work, Fowler boasted of a functional website owned by the revenue service as part of its efforts to be accessible to millions of Nigerians as well as its commitment to be digital-savvy in the face of technological advancement.
“The FIRS website is very robust to the point that if you check your phone now and visit our website, it would tell you the closest (FIRS) office to where you are.
“You can do your tax payment and enquiries on your phone in your house, in your offices, anywhere.”
[READ ALSO: Nigeria is losing $15 billion to tax evasion, FIRS boss reveals]
Fowler had earlier disclosed that Nigeria loses the sum of $15 billion to tax evasion annually. He made the statement at an event organized by the West Africa Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) which held in Abuja.
According to him, the challenge to curb tax evasion was quite overwhelming. He noted that several information leaks released in the past years had helped in unveiling the depth and breadth of the challenge.
