Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has assured Nigerians that the upcoming tax reform will decrease taxes rather than add new ones or raise current tax rates.
Adedeji made the pledge on Tuesday at an interactive session with members of the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja.
Addressing worries about the reforms’ impact, he underlined that the primary goal is to lower the number of taxes paid by Nigerians while also increasing the efficiency of tax administration in Nigeria.
Adedeji said:
“The tax reform will not introduce any taxes or increase the percentage of existing ones but reduce the number of taxes being paid by Nigerians.”
“The tax reform seeks to increase simplicity and efficiency of tax administration in Nigeria.”
He also stated that no agencies would be consolidated, no jobs would be lost as a result of the reforms, and current tax laws are designed to tax prosperity rather than poverty.
“We are taxing fruits, not seeds—returns, not investments,” he said.
Adedeji provided an update on four executive bills that are currently before the national assembly, stating that if passed, the measures will harmonise different tax laws, improve efficiency and modernisation, simplify tax regulations, and encourage synergy among revenue-generating institutions.
The bills are the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (Amendment) Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.
The measures, according to Adedeji, will increase openness, line with international norms, broaden the tax base, and boost government savings.
Speaking about the planned change of the agency’s name to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), the FIRS chief stated that the current name does not properly reflect the extent of its duties.
He also stated that 85 per cent of the value-added tax (VAT) collected is paid to state governments, while only 15 per cent goes to the federal government.