…Service Raked-In N21.6trn in 2024
The National Assembly has set a tax revenue target of N25 trillion for the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the 2025 fiscal year.
The target was set by the joint Finance Committee of the two chambers of the National Assembly following a disclosure by FIRS that it raked in N21.6 trillion in 2024, overshooting its set target of N19.4 trillion for that year.
The lawmakers, however, urged the chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, to study the tax template being used in South Africa.
It was observed that South Africa, with a population of about 54 million, generates higher taxes than Nigeria, with an over 200 million population.
The lawmakers promised FIRS the necessary support regarding the pending tax reforms and charged the taxman to bring more taxable citizens into the tax net, especially from the informal sector.
The senators and House members commended FIRS for surpassing its projected tax revenue for 2024, stressing that taxation is the way for countries to make progress.
While agreeing to the N25 trillion target for the agency, the lawmakers suggested a higher revenue projection of N30 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year, a suggestion to which the FIRS chairman and his team did not commit.
Describing the feat as unprecedented, the deputy chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Rep. Musa Abdullahi, commended the tax agency and urged it to keep raising the bar.
Abdullahi said, “The feat attained by FIRS on revenue collection or generation in 2024 was unprecedented and a very wonderful one, worthy of commendation.
“That you surpassed the target set for the agency in the 2024 Appropriation Act from N19.4tn to N21.6tn is very cheering and encouraging.”
Senator Binos Yeroe (Adamawa South) also commended the FIRS boss for the various initiatives and innovations deployed in surpassing the tax collection revenue target in 2024.
In his closing remark, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Sani Musa, said the N25 trillion target was achievable and charged FIRS to work towards surpassing it.