LIRS recorded N25bn revenue in December’

The Lagos Inland Revenue Service, on Wednesday, said it raked N25bn into the stake government’s coffers in December 2016, despite the biting economic recession in the country.

The Executive Chairman, LIRS, Mr. Ayodele Subair, said the agency was targeting N30bn revenue this month and the subsequent ones in the year.

According to him, in view of the plan by the Governor Akinwumi Ambode-led administration to present a N1tn budget proposal for next year, the LIRS has also set a N50bn monthly revenue target.

Subair, who was speaking during this year’s Annual Tax Week, although the task was daunting, it was achievable.

Themed, “Economic recession: Taxation as a survival roadmap’’, the programme was organised by the Lagos District Society of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.

On funding of the 2017 spending plan of the state, Subair said, “With the budget of about N813bn, the LIRS is looking at leveraging technology and improved automation of its services and that of the state government.”

The LIRS chairman said the agency was working on how to integrate the databases of all government agencies to ensure that the right questions are being asked at all times.

“LIRS is ensuring collaboration within various government ministries to pool together a huge database that will enhance revenue collection,” he added, noting that the ongoing recession and particularly the drop in oil price was a blessing in disguise.

In a presentation titled, “Recession impact on state budgets, taxation as a mitigant”, the Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, Deloitte Nigeria, Mr. Abayomi Olugbenro, warned that the challenging operating environment would reflect in the revenue of state governments and the Value Added Tax.

This, he said, might make it increasingly difficult for state governments to meet their recurrent obligations.

He, therefore, urged state governments to expand the tax net, rather than increase rates.

Olugbenro said, “If we don’t increase the tax net, it may impede national recovery.”

Discussing the presentation, Mrs. Titilayo Fowokan, urged state governments to look into the area of luxury goods/lifestyle tax, advising that the proposed tax amnesty should be in good faith and should not be used as a bait, just as there should be a lot of enlightenment around it.