IMF commends FIRS for making significant progress

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has examined the ongoing reforms at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and commended the agency for what it described as significant progress in its core duties.

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A Senior Economist at the Fiscal Affairs Department of the global body, Paulo Paz, gave the commendation on Wednesday at the opening of IMF-supported Headquarters Mission at the Revenue House in Abuja.

Mr Paz said the IMF recognised the “good work that FIRS has been providing to the citizens,” under its chairman, Zacch Adedeji, adding that the Bretton Woods institution would continue to support the agency in delivering effective tax administration for the growth and development of the country.

A statement by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman said the mission of the IMF team to Nigeria was to explore areas the organisation could further support the agency in addressing the challenges that might arise, particularly with the recently signed tax laws. According to him, the new tax laws will bring new impact to Nigeria.

Mr Paz said, “We want to know how we can best support you with this new challenge. Our take on the four tax laws is first a recognition of the very good work that FIRS has been providing to the citizens.

“You have at the same time the recognition and new responsibilities with these very powerful laws which will increase the relevance of the tax administration in Nigeria.

“I want to express our honour of being here and being a partner of FIRS. Thank you for your trust in our advice. We congratulate you for the good results so far. There is more to come, and we are here to help,” he added.

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Mr Adedeji, while welcoming the visitors, applauded IMF for journeying with the tax body, saying that the relationship would continue when the agency transits to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) next year.

The FIRS chairman, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Tayo Koleosho, specifically lauded IMF collaboration with FIRS in portfolio management and compliance programme.

“IMF has gone on this journey with us, and I think we are in a good place to continue the journey together. We are working together either in digital transformation, VAT automation, looking at even the compliance programme and ability to automate some of those things.

“I am interested in corporate plan and the nexus of data portfolio management so that we have our strategy being dissolved into those manageable tasks. It’s very important that those things are well,” he stressed.

In her own remark, Mrs Bolaji Akintola, coordinating director, Corporate Services Group, explained that the IMF has been a critical stakeholder in FIRS’ journey towards tax system reforms targeted at improving domestic revenue mobilisation.

She said the FIRS, with the support of the IMF, conducted two systemic evaluation exercises using the Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) between 2018 and 2023.

“Each of these exercises was followed by a post-TADAT mission where a reform roadmap was developed to address the systemic weaknesses that were uncovered by the assessment.

“The fact that the results of the 2023 TADAT showed significant improvement on those of 2018 is indicative of the commitment of the Service towards institutional excellence.

“Let me assure you that if another TADAT is conducted today, the result will be better than that of 2023 because a good number of the weak indicators from the 2023 Performance Assessment Report have been addressed and some have been codified in the four tax reform laws recently signed by President Bola Tinubu,” she further stated.