South-East states get N23.8bn in tax rebates from Nigeria govt

The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, Thursday disclosed that the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone had received not less than N23.87 billion from the Federal Government as tax rebates.

Fowler stated this in Awka, the Anambra State capital during the South-East geopolitical zone regional ceremony for the New National Registration System.

“The South-East states have already received N23.87 billion from the Federal Government. The gesture will encourage the state governments to reciprocate and promptly remit all withholding taxes and VAT due to the Federation Account”, Fowler said.

According to him, a major feature of the new tax regime was that it possessed the capability to integrate with relevant agencies by leveraging on already captured data.

READ ALSO: Court reverses INEC disqualification of SDP candidate in Kogi

Fowler said: “We recognize the huge entrepreneurial and commercial potential of Anambra State taking into consideration that the Onitsha main market is touted as the biggest market in West Africa, and we are well aware of the opportunities that this can have in shoring up the state’s IGR potential even more.

“A look at the IGR performance of the South-East geopolitical zone also shows encouraging growth trends as the cumulative collection of N77.31 billion for the year 2018 was a 16.66 per cent improvement on the N66.27 billion collected in 2017.

“The year 2019 is looking quite positive as well, already the sum of N42.98 billion has already been reported for the half-year period. This represents an 18.1 per cent growth over the N36.4 billion recorded for the half-year period of 2018.

“This new reality drives the desire by the JTB to ensure that the identification of individuals and corporate bodies for tax purposes in Nigeria is achievable.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now