You can now obtain your tax ID number online

July 1, 2019 6:01 pm

Pic.2. From left: Deputy Director, Tax Policy and Advisory Department, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Gabriel Ogunjemilusi; Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr Tunde Fowler; and Secretary of the Joint Tax Board, Mr Oseni Elama, at a media workshop on Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) in Abuja on Thursday (7/12/17). 06629/7/12/2017/Jones Bamidele/NAN

The Joint Tax Board (JTB) has launched a new national registration system that would enable Nigerians to obtain their taxpayer identification number (TIN) online.

The new system launched in Abuja on Monday is also targeted at tracking all eligible taxpayers in the country.

Launching the new platform, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo expressed hope it would go a long way in reforming Nigeria’s tax system while ensuring better service delivery for citizens.

Tunde Fowler, JTB chairman, said the new system will provide a unique identity to the taxpayer and facilitate ease of compliance.

He said its main objective is to leverage already captured data of eligible taxpayers by relevant government institutions to discover hidden trends and patterns that could lead to better visibility and revenue generation for the government.

He also said the new system will ensure a coordinated approach towards managing tax revenue and information between relevant government authorities.

“Today’s event is poised to change the financial profile of Nigeria and particularly lay a strong financial foundation to fund the government at all tiers beyond aid, grant and borrowing,” he said.

Nigeria is said to be losing N15 trillion to tax evasion annually as at 2017.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) collected only N5.32 trillion as tax from Nigerians in 2018 — and this is the highest ever recorded in the nation’s history.

HOW THE PLATFORM WORKS

The new registration system is designed to assign TIN to all potential corporate and individual taxpayers that have been registered by agencies like the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

It enhances the automatic exchange of information among relevant government agencies and is also designed to automatically generate TIN for newly registered companies.

It also comes with a TIN mobile application and enables taxpayers to resolve any tax-related issue and print their TIN certificate themselves.