THE Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, has called on professional bodies in the regulation of tax practice to lead conversations on matters of tax policy and tax laws in Nigeria.
Nami made the call on Thursday, July 7, 2022 while hosting a meeting of councils of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) to discuss the implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the standardisation of tax practice in the country.
READ ALSO:
Income Tax Returns: FIRS extends deadline for late companies
Amid dwindling revenue, FIRS to undertake nationwide tax compliance tour
FIRS to enforce recovery of unremitted tax from States, LGs through FAAC deductions
While calling for a value-based leadership approach from the councils, he urged the professional bodies to work hand-in-hand with the Service to deepen its institutional framework through qualitative reporting and effective representation of their clients.
“Our professional bodies need to speak on matters of tax policies and tax laws, especially on proposals to annual finance bills.
“We need to stem the tides in improving financial reporting to reduce the spate of ‘copy and paste’ financial reporting system as we are experiencing today,” Nami stated in a statement issued today.
The FIRS Executive Chairman, who is also a Fellow of two of the three professional bodies, stated that the FIRS had adopted renewed strategies to tackle financial reporting concerns.
He noted that the Service had created new departments – such as the Intelligence, Strategic Data Mining and Analysis Department, the Special Crimes Department, the Tax Incentives Management Department and the Emerging and Special Taxes Department – which he stated were at the forefront of unravelling financial reporting issues through data mining.
He also disclosed that the FIRS, alongside the Inland Revenue Service of all the states, were collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to build a databank to improve tax investigation.
Other strategies the FIRS has been employing include the accreditation of its tax consultants and auditors and the review of data from the Automatic Exchange of Information as well as increased enforcement actions.
The presidents of the three bodies – Professor Benjamin Osisioma of ANAN, Tijjani Musa Isa of ICAN and Adesina Adedayo of the CITN – commended the FIRS Executive Chairman for showing leadership in pushing for and enabling a resolution of the squabbles between the three bodies.
While thanking Nami for his leadership roles, Osisioma noted that failure of the three bodies to cooperate among themselves would lead to chaos in tax practice regulation in the country.
“If we fail to cooperate and collaborate, we would destroy what we are trying to build,” he stated.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.