The Federal Capital Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) collected and remitted N126.54 billion between January and June 2024, according to the Acting Executive Chairman, Mr. Haruna Abdullahi, who announced this represented by the Director of Tax Operations, Mrs. Chinwe Anohu-Ndu, at the FCT-IRS mid-year news conference in Abuja. This represents an increase by 53.5% from N82.46 billion collected in the first half of 2023 and by 119.7% from N57.59 billion collected in the same period in 2022. This shows a strong year-on-year growth.
But, for him, this was a feat recorded in the face of economic challenges. He said that such success in the service could be traced to the commitments of leveraging technology and developing a highly functional e-service portal. He hailed the high level of compliance by taxpayers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and urged more voluntary compliance now and in the future.
In enforcement, Abdullahi said the FCT-IRS has launched an exercise against the problem of tax evasion where it liaises with relevant government agencies to seal non-compliant businesses and puts in place legal measures against recovering tax liabilities. Furthermore, the service has been striving toward technological improvements aimed at increasing efficiency and streamlining revenue collection, rationalizing the process, lowering the costs of collection, and achieving a better level of efficiency.
Abdullahi noted that the FCT-IRS would play a stabilizing role in the economy by generating revenue for the delivery of essential public service, increasing maximum total tax collection, and ensuring an efficient administration of taxes. The service will be positioned to align with Federal Government tax policy reforms, with a view to reigniting economic growth, and it pledges to partner with stakeholders to overcome challenges in upscaling tax compliance.
He also commended Mr. Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the FCT, for his leadership and backing in the drive toward increased revenue generation, pointing out that the FCT-IRS was targeting to exceed the N500 billion benchmark revenue in the year 2024. He said all taxpayers in the FCT needed to make tax compliance a priority, as it was very pivotal in development and nation-building. He emphasized that it would be through the fulfillment of tax obligations that growth and prosperity would come the way of FCT and consequently contribute to the same for Nigeria at large.