Acting Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji
‘Fair engagement is our plan’ – FIRS, denies tax hike reports
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has dismissed speculations of a planned hike in taxes across the country, just as it stated its resolve to engage in ‘fair engagement’ with the tax-paying populace.
Acting Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji
Acting Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, who disclosed this in a statement, issued through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Dare Adekanmbi, Thursday, in Abuja, insisted that the agency is not planning on increasing taxes.
However, according to Adedeji, the FIRS only wants to grow tax revenue through ‘fair engagement’ with the populace.
Dismissing reports of an impending tax hike, the FIRS chairman said his agency plans to increase the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 per cent from 10.86, which he stated ‘will not lead to increase in taxes.’
The FIRS chairman had said the agency under his leadership, would in the next three years, achieve eight per cent raise in tax-to-GDP ratio to surpass Africa’s average of 16.5 per cent without stifling investment or economic growth.
The plan had triggered muffled apprehensions that the decision could cause an increase in tax rates or introduction of new ones.
“Our plan is simple. We want to grow tax revenue and we only want to tax prosperity and not poverty. Therefore, it is not in our interest to kill the trees that bear the fruits. My first ‘love letter’ to you is to appreciate what you have done. So, you don’t have anything to be afraid of.
“We will not collect what is not due to us. But we don’t want anyone not to pay what is due to us. Fair engagement is our plan. Rest assured that the 18 per cent tax-to-GDP target will not translate to increase in taxes,” Adedeji said.
