New Telegraph

FIRS proposes road Infrastructure Funding Scheme for Nigeria’

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said it is proposing the introduction of Road Infrastructure Tax in Nigeria, to make the informal sector contribute to building a modern society. The Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Mamman Nami, disclosed this yesterday, while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by its National President, Chris Isiguzo, in his office, in Abuja.

Nami said the proposed Road Infrastructure Tax to be administered by the federal agency, would provide the government with adequate funding for road construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance, as well as providing the needed security for roads in the country. According to the FIRS boss: “One quick and very important intervention required of you is in the area of the Road Infrastructure Funding Scheme that the country needs in order to fix our roads and bring the informal sector to the tax net.”

He noted that: “In many jurisdictions, road users pay for the use of road infrastructure as such it shouldn’t be seen as an additional burden on our citizens because it has the potential of making life better for all of us.” Speaking further, Nami stated that Nigeria’s economy presently relies heavily on non-oil revenues to discharge its statutory responsibility of paying salaries and providing social amenities to the citizenry. According to him, without payment of tax, governments at all levels would not be able to fulfil their mandate to the electorates.

He disclosed that the recent rise in the price of crude oil ordinarily should have impacted positively on the Petroleum Profit Tax payable by oil producing companies. However, it has shown otherwise due to some reasons, he said. Nami added that the service created 10 Value Added Tax (VAT) Regional Coordination Offices across the country to drive collection of VAT. “We have commenced usage of VAT Form 002A for enrolment and tracking of branch offices of major VAT payers. This will certainly improve VAT our collection and capacity. We achieved 114.66 percent of our VAT collection target in the first half of the year,” he said. While congratulating Isiguzo for his recent re-election as the National President of NUJ, which was a reflection of his uncommon achievements at the NUJ, he urged NUJ Members Earlier, Isiguzo, said the visit of the union was part of his resolve to engage critical institutions as a key stakeholder in charting a way forward for the country’s collective good.

Read Previous

Ensure free, fair guber polls by all means in Anambra, Buhari charges Service Chiefs

Read Next

Gunmen set Imo police station ablaze, free suspects

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *