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The National Assembly, through its Joint Committee on Finance, has proposed a N25 trillion tax collection or revenue generation target for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, in the 2025 fiscal year.
This comes as the committee commended the Executive chairman of the service, Zacch Adedeji, for surpassing the revenue collection target of N19.4 trillion in 2024, reaching N21.6 trillion.
The first to make the commendation on Wednesday, after a presentation by the FIRS boss on the agency’s revenue collection performance in 2024 and projections for 2025, was the deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Saidu Musa Abdullahi, who described the performance as unprecedented.
“The feat attained by FIRS in revenue collection or generation in 2024 was unprecedented and a very wonderful one, worthy of commendation.
“That you surpassed the target set for the agency in the 2024 Appropriation Act from N19.4 trillion to N21.6 trillion is very cheering and encouraging,” he said.
He, however, urged the FIRS boss to understudy the template being used in South Africa, which, according to him, generates revenue from tax collections far above that of Nigeria despite having a smaller population of about 45 to 54 million people, compared to Nigeria’s 200 million population.
“We shall give you total support on your tax reform, but you need to bring more taxable citizens from the informal sector into the net,” he said.
Also commending FIRS for surpassing the projected tax revenue in 2024, Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas (PDP, Delta South), in his remarks, said that taxes all over the world are the way to go, and for this reason, FIRS must deepen the process through planned reform.
He suggested that the committee should increase the projected revenue for FIRS in 2025 to N30 trillion.
Senator Binos Yeroe (PDP, Adamawa South) also commended the FIRS boss for the initiatives and innovations deployed in surpassing the tax collection revenue target in 2024.
“Your performance in 2024 was highly commendable, and I wish you keep it up,” he said.
Etanabene Benedict added to the commendations for the FIRS boss in his remarks, saying: “If we do well on tax collections or revenue generation, we will not borrow to fund our budget.
“Going by the feat attained by FIRS in 2024, I urge this committee to project N60 trillion in tax collection or revenue generation for it in 2025.”
However, the chairmen of the committees, in their separate closing remarks, told the FIRS boss that the N25 trillion projected for the agency in 2025 is what he should work with and possibly surpass, as was done in 2024.
Senator Sani Musa, in particular, said: “FIRS should work with the N25 trillion projected revenue set for it in 2025. It is achievable and even surpassable.”
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