By Chika Otuchikere
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said the country cannot afford to depend solely on oil revenue thus the need to intensify the tax drive.
The FIRS Executive Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Nami, made this submission, weekend, during a webinar organized by a firm, OTISVIP, where he said Nigerians should accept this new reality.
“Nigerians should accept the fact that the country can no longer rely solely on revenue accruing from its natural resources to fund the budget, hence the need to embrace taxation as the new normal of national fiscal policy,” he said.
Mr. Nami, gave a detailed clarification on the Stamp Duty Act in Nigeria, which, he said, included the types of transactions dutiable under the Act as well as the respective applicable rates.
According to a statement by FIRS spokesman, Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, while all panelists agreed on the need for taxation to compliment government’s revenue flow from natural resources, a lively debate ensued on the timing of the Stamp Duty campaign and the public debate surrounding the application of tax revenue in the nation-building processes, especially in building public infrastructure..
Ahmad said the panelists stressed the need for prudent management of tax revenue even as they enjoined Nigerians to embrace the fact that the tax net needs to get wider to accommodate more citizens for holistic national development.
The theme of the webinar was “Stamp Duty: The New Black Gold?” and it was hosted by Mr. Jake Effoduh, a Partner at Praxis & Gnosis Law.
The theme of the webinar was “Stamp Duty: The New Black Gold?” and it was hosted by Mr. Jake Effoduh, a Partner at Praxis & Gnosis Law.
