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FIRS targets N5tn revenue in 2016 non-oil revenue to account for 80% of earnings

By on February 4, 2016

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Tuesday disclosed that its proposed revenue target for the 2016 fiscal year is N4.957 trillion, which is N385 billion higher than the N4.572 trillion in  2015.
Of the N4.957 trillion for 2016, non- oil revenue  will account for 80 per cent of the gross target.
Of this, Value Added Tax (VAT) will account for N2 trillion, representing 40.35 per cent, while Company Income Tax (CIT) is expected to rake in  N1.877  or 37.87 per cent .
Both CIT and VAT  are projected to account for 80 account of FIRS’ revenue haul in 2016.
The Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr. Tunde Fowler, who unveiled the figures in Abuja at the 2016 corporate strategy  retreat, gave other details of the revenue target for 2016 as Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) N800 billion; CIT N1,877trillion; Education Tax (ET ) N180 billion; Consolidated Tax N80 billion and National Information Technology Development Endowment Fund (NITDEF) expected to contribute N20 billion.
The retreat with the theme: ‘Optimising Non- Oil Tax Revenue Collection Through Compliance and Enforcement,’      attracted  top management officers of FIRS and states’ internal revenue board chairmen.
Of the revenue target of N4.572 trillion  for last year, FIRS was able to rake in N3.743 trillion due to significant drop in oil taxes, just as it was short of meeting the target for non-oil taxes, VAT  and CIT.
Fowler,  who was a  former tax administrator for  Lagos State, expressed confidence that FIRS under his leadership would not only meet the revenue target but surpass it, even as he urged the staff to brace up for the task ahead.
According to him,  payment of bonuses will be tied to performances, adding: “This is necessary as we will introduce an enhance system of performance to ensure that we all meet our targets. Since our ability to fund the organisation is directly tied to our collection.”
As part of the enhanced performance system, he disclosed that there was an increased threshold for payment of performance bonus from 60 per cent to 70 per cent .
“It should be noted that if indeed we are to receive performance bonuses , then our performance target should be met 100 per cent,” he stressed.
The need for FIRS to review its strategy for revenue generation from oil to non- oil, he said,  became imperative with the challenge that comes with low oil prices and dwindling revenue from oil sources.
In order to achieve the objective set for 2016 revenue target, the FIRS’ chief executive said the agency would device strategy for voluntary compliance.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, in a goodwill message, noted that the revenue projections  for 2016 budget were articulated  by government in close collaboration with FIRS and other revenue generating agencies.
Udoma, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry  Mrs. Fatimah Nana Mede, said increased non- oil revenue would be achieved through multi-faceted channels.
These, he said,  included a comprehensive audit, compliance to spending guidelines by Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs ) with a view to  enhancing independent revenue remittance from N489.29 billion in 2015 to N1.5 trillion  in 2016 as well as the full implementation of  the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to generate N900 billion operating surplus from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) , Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Others include broadening tax base and improving efficiency in tax refined collection expected to raise VAT collection to N1.42 trillion in 2016 from N1.34 trillion in 2015 and funds recovery in the region of N162.43 from NPDC.

 

[ThisDay]