Zainab Ahmed: Government will provide fiscal relief to attract more taxpayers

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says the federal government will provide fiscal relief to attract more taxpayers and ensure efficient tax administration.

Ahmed said this will be achieved by deploying modern technology-driven processes and systems to facilitate quantum growth in tax revenue collection.

Represented by Aliyu Shinkafi, the permanent secretary, special duties, Ahmed said this at the 23rd annual Chartered Institute Of Taxation Of Nigeria (CITN) conference held in Abuja, themed ‘Taxation for Economic Recovery: A Necessity For Social Engagement And Economic Sustainability.’

In April, Mohammed Nami, executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), had said the adoption of technology is needed to improve tax collection and block revenue leakages.

A statement by Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, special adviser to the minister on media and communications, quoted the minister as saying tax professionals must continue to work with other relevant stakeholders to ensure effective and optimal participation in the global efforts spearheaded by organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) to transform the digital economy into a significant revenue source for governments.

“The theme is indeed appropriate and in tune with the 2021 approved budget theme, ‘Economic Recovery and Resilience’, which is aimed at accelerating our economic recovery process, promoting social inclusion and strengthening the resilience of the economy,” the statement read.

“Nigeria’s low revenue generation has been a very serious challenge for past and present Administration. The debate on leveraging domestic resource mobilisation for sustainable development has been a recurring issue at different fora including this one of today. As part of the government’s efforts in strengthening the effectiveness of the Nigerian tax system, we have instituted various tax reforms through the annual Finance Bill. This has culminated into the Finance Act, 2019 and Finance Act, 2020.

“The Finance Act, 2020 is unique as it consists of over 80 changes to 14 different laws including some tax law provisions, which are harped on ensuring a balance between broader macroeconomic strategies and specific measures to attract investment, grow the economy and create jobs. It also encompasses immediate fiscal strategies for accelerated domestic revenue mobilisation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the domestic/global economic downturn.

“The underlying principle of our tax policy reforms is to adopt counter-cyclical fiscal policies to simplify the tax system, provide fiscal relief to taxpayers and attract more taxpayers into the tax net.”

Ahmed said the follow-up to the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) is the ‘Project Lighthouse’ of the Ministry, a single source data analytic tool to support revenue agencies, tax authorities and other stakeholders to address the issue of current revenue challenges using tax.

“Government shall continue to ensure the improvement of the tax administration framework to optimise government revenue which is a major thrust of the current administration’s Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI). As a result of this, current tax policies have been anchored on the SRGI and the revised national tax policy,” she added.