The Plateau State Internal Revenue Service says it is aiming to save as much as N26billion from Internally Generated Revenue in 2023.
In the first quarter of the year 2023, the service generated up to N7billion, Executive Chairman of the Service, Mr. Dashe Arlat told journalists yesterday during a media briefing in Jos, the Plateau State capital. The agency is hopeful of generating more in the coming months as it increases its awareness to citizens on the importance of paying tax, Arlat said.
The latest feat has shown signs of an increase from revenue generated in the year 2022, Arlat said. The agency generated a total of N16billion in 2022, an average of N4billion every quarter, he said, assuring of efforts to improve revenue generation this year.
Arlat noted that the IRS is working with business unions and other stakeholders to ensure citizens pay taxes conveniently through their unions based on their income.
He added that the IRS’s goal is to generate sufficient revenue to enable government carry out its statutory duty.
“We are all working towards ensuring that all revenues are collected in the state,” he said. “We are deploying new technology to facilitate that with the Plateau Integrated Revenue Collection System among other changes,” he stated.
“In the new structure, we work towards ensuring that tax payers are comfortable in terms of payment, in terms of even the assessment that we put to them, we ensure that we don’t just put outrageous payment on them, rather we use their unions and associations to come up with a fair assessment that can enable them pay because we are driving towards voluntary compliance in tax payment.
“There is no point of taxing somebody a figure that he cannot pay as a tax. We make sure that we assess them within their own range and we group them into cluster. Like tailors, we said this is how much you can pay,” he added.
According to Arlat, the IRS has equally trained and taken steps to motivate its staff to deliver on its mandate.
The revenue boss called on taxpayers to keep records of their financial transactions which will enable them pay taxes based on their incomes.
Mr. Arlat however appealed to the press to increase awareness among citizens on the need to pay tax.
