The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami, has said that the revenue mobilization of Nigeria and Niger Republic can be improved upon if the revenue authorities of both countries work together to deepen their relationship, share tax information and engage in mutual administrative assistance.
Receiving his Niger Republic counterpart, the Director General of the Niger Tax Authority, Mallam Ousmane Mahamane and his delegation at the Headquarters of the FIRS, during a cooperation visit to the Service yesterday, Nami noted the long-standing relationship and shared culture and languages of the two countries.
He stated the need for the FIRS to work with the Niger Tax Authority given the “presence of high-net-worth Nigerian individuals and companies trading in Niger with significant tax implications, which is of great interest to the FIRS”.
The FIRS Executive Chairman also highlighted the working relationship enjoyed by the Service and the Niger Tax Authority in the past, particularly on the community rule on double taxation and transfer pricing.
He stressed the need for further cooperation in the areas of sharing of tax information and mutual administrative assistance, especially in the face of increase in trans-border tax within the context of ECOWAS and AFCFTA.
The statement by the FIRS said that Nami used the occasion to share with his Niger Republic counterpart some of the success stories achieved by the FIRS and the contributors responsible for these milestones.
According to him, one of the contributing factors to improved revenue is the taxation of the digital economy through the implementation of relevant policies, legislations and administrative processes for the collection of taxes (both income taxes and Value Added Tax (VAT) from the digital economy. “This ensures that Nigeria is able to collect taxes on non-resident companies that derive income from the Nigerian market, without physical presence. This further ensures tax equity for local businesses,” he said
He also stated that “the Service has evolved into a data centric organization, leveraging on data in revenue forecasting, planning, tax policy formulation and driving compliance and enforcement.”
He added that one of the contributors to the FIRS successes was the exchange of information it had with other tax authorities, both internally and in other countries as well as the FIRS being a customer focused institution that has put measures in place to make voluntary compliance easier than ever for taxpayers.
In his remarks, Mallam Ousmane Mahamane, the Director General of the Niger Tax Authority, stated that there was an urgent need for international tax cooperation between the two institutions.
He noted that his Tax Authority was seeking the relationship with the FIRS that would cover cross border trade, the oil sector, the telecommunications sector the digitalization of tax procedures, exchange of tax information, assistance with tax audit, separation of administrative procedures, modernization of tax administration and human capacity development.
He commended the FIRS Executive Chairman for his “outstanding performance” in mobilizing over N6.405 trillion in revenue for the Government of Nigeria.
GIK/APA