The Federal Government aims to achieve a tax revenue target of N19.4tn in the year 2024.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) achieved a record tax revenue collection of N12.37tn for the federation in 2023, surpassing the set target of N10.7tn for the year.
Dr. Zacch Adedeji, the Chairman of FIRS, expressed confidence in the attainability of the new tax revenue target of N19.4tn for 2024.
He attributed this optimism to the effectiveness of the tax collection system and a conducive economic environment fostering business prosperity.
Providing a breakdown of the figures, Mrs. Amina Ado, one of the agency’s coordinating directors, revealed that oil revenue accounted for N3.17tn, representing 25.6% of the total, while non-oil revenue constituted 74.4%, amounting to N9.2tn.
In a statement signed by Dare Adekanmbi, the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, the revelation was conveyed during the commencement of a two-day strategic management retreat at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Wednesday.
The agency highlighted that it had revised its initial tax target for 2023 from N10.7tn to N11.5tn due to fluctuations in the exchange rate.
Commenting on 2024’s target, FIRS’s chairman, Adedeji said, “What determines whatever we have comes from micro-economic indices because when the economy runs well, we are going to be taxing prosperity, not poverty.
“We will focus on the fruits and not the seeds. We need to ensure we have that viable economic environment that will lead to economic prosperity. And for us at FIRS, it is just to put the system in place to aid effective collection.
“We are not a revenue-generating agency, but a revenue-collection agency. With the plan of President Bola Tinubu to rejuvenate the economy, companies are going to grow and prosper,” he said.
In his goodwill message, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, stressed the need for an increase in tax revenue to enable the government to discharge its responsibilities to the citizenry.
He said, “First of all, I commend the FIRS chairman and the rest of his team for coming together right from the beginning of the financial year to come to rub minds and put up a strategy for increasing tax revenue.
“Tax revenue in Nigeria is low. The collection level should be much higher as we have seen in other African countries not to talk of the developed countries. It is at 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when at the highest level, it goes around 55 per cent.
“What the chairman and his team have done is build on already-established performance. In 2023, FIRS met his financial target and even surpassed it. But they need to do more. And that is what the chairman and his team will be discussing for the two days to make sure they finalize plans to substantially increase internally generated revenue.”
In her goodwill message, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant-General of the Federation, commended the FIRS for its significant contribution of 70% to the overall revenues of the federation.
Nigeria has been making moves to increase its tax revenues. During his 2024 budget presentation, President Tinubu said, “We are currently reviewing our tax and fiscal policies. Our target is to increase the ratio of revenue to GDP from less than 10 per cent currently to 18 per cent within the term of this Administration. The government will make efforts to further contain financial leakages through effective implementation of key public financial management reforms.”
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