President Muhammadu Buhari has directed Ministries, Departments, Agencies, MDAs, and business enterprises to grant access to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to their systems for the purposes of tax collection.
The President issued the directive on Thursday at the First Annual National Tax Dialogue organized by the FIRS in Abuja.
Buhari also ordered the FIRS to “immediately put all measures in place to fully implement programmes to stamp out Base Erosion and Profit Shifting in all of its ramifications and generally automate its tax processes.”
He urged the FIRS to fast-track its digitalization of the tax collection process.
“I have directed all government agencies and business enterprises to grant FIRS access to their systems for connection. We all are now living in a fast digitalising world.
“As such, business transactions are continually being migrated from “brick and mortar” locations to digital places.
“However, It is necessary for tax authorities to adopt digital means to efficiently track taxable transactions for the purpose of collecting taxes.
“We also made necessary amendments to the FIRS Establishment Act in the Finance Act 2020 in order to provide the necessary legislative framework for adopting technology in tax administration,” he said.
Speaking also, the Executive Chairman, FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Nami, revealed that the FIRS would match on to digitalize the tax process fully.
He also thanked the President and all other stakeholders that worked together to implement the necessary laws for their continued support to the service.
