FCT-IRS to Give CSR to Local Businesses
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) said it intends to focus more on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by giving back to businesses and communities across the territory.
The Acting Executive Chairman Michael Ango, disclosed this when he hosted a delegation of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), led by the President, Chief Emeka Obegolu.
He said: “The FCT-IRS as a tax authority will now be visible in the area of CSR. We can go to the market, plazas and offer assistance by improving their facilities in order to have a conducive environment. In doing this, they will understand that we are not only coming to take from them but to also give to support their businesses”.
He pledged support for businesses to thrive in the territory in anyway he can for the progress of the FCT, adding that the focus of the current administration was to improve the ease of doing business and create a conducive environment for businesses to grow.
Ango said the Service under his leadership was mapping out strategies to promote voluntary compliance by the taxpayers adding that, in taxation voluntary compliance was the best form of compliance.
He thanked the ACCI team for the visit and assured of the support and continued collaboration by the Service to promote business activities in the FCT.
Earlier in his remarks, Obegolu, congratulated the FCT-IRS Chairman on his appointment and expressed gratitude for the historical support the Service has rendered, emphasizing the positive impact on business opportunities.
He noted that the major mandate of ACCI, being the voice of the private sector in the FCT was to advance the ease of doing business in the FCT and advocate for policies of government that will support it.
“We work with four focal centres in ACCI.The first is the national chambers of commerce dispute resolution centre, it is a centre established within ACCI with mandate to promote effective dispute resolution in commercial disputes. Second is the national chamber of commerce dispute which serves the business community in the FCT and we believe that with the appropriate policies of government it can serve in tax dispute resolution.
“We also have the Abuja trade center with mandate to organize business to business meetings with trade missions, trade fairs and generally to promote commerce within and outside the FCT. We have the BEST center which is the Business Enterpreneurial Skills and Technology center of the ACCI,” he said.
