Tax Reform Bills: Consultations with Stakeholders Yielding Positive Results, Says FIRS Boss

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, has expressed delight that the ongoing consultations with critical stakeholders on the tax reform bills were yielding positive results.

Adedeji said the consultations were being held between government representatives, lawmakers and other major players in the private and public sectors.

He stated this while speaking with journalists after the federal government delegation on the tax reforms led by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, held a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate ad hoc committee on the tax reforms at the National Assembly yesterday

The FIRS Boss, while addressing journalists, said all the contending issues on the tax reforms were discussed at the meeting and that the reforms were going as planned.

He said, “All those things you call grey areas were discussed, identified, and it’s just for us to continue the engagement.

“The consultation which was based on your observation has been positive. So we are in the right direction and everything is going as planned.”

Adedeji also stated that all controversial issues on the tax bills were identified at the meeting and were clarified.

He said, “There won’t be any further meeting because all issues were identified, all the issues were clarified and then the resolutions were made to the best knowledge of everybody there and then for the betterment of the country.”

Adedeji expressed confidence that the tax bills would be passed, saying they are the best for the country.

“I am confident because this is what is best for the country so it’s not only me, even the senators that brought us together, if they don’t see the positive part of it we will not be here.

“This is the first working day of the year and we are here because we all know this is what is needed, which is the consensus that all of us have said and then if I could hear Mr. President that we know we have to make the change.

“What we are doing now is just to make that change better for the greater number of people,” he added.

Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc committee,  Abba Moro, while speaking with journalists also said consultations on the controversial issues of the tax reforms were still ongoing.

Moro, the Senate Minority Leader, said his colleagues and the federal government delegation agreed on the progress of the bills.

He said, “We have agreed amongst ourselves that we must synthesise the whole process to ensure that at the end of the day, we give to Nigerians what Nigerians want and that is a law that serves the purpose of all Nigerians.

“So that is where we are now and hopefully by the time we meet again we will finalise and we will have some better story to tell you.”

The bills have faced criticisms from some Nigerians, particularly northern governors and lawmakers, who said they are against the region’s interests.

Former Leader of the Senate, who is representing Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Ali Ndume, had been mobilising the northern lawmakers opposed to the bills. The bills are the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.

While the bills have passed a second reading in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance, they are yet to be debated in the House of Representatives

Senators from the Southeast had said they are not against the bills but need to consult with their governors and other stakeholders in the region.

The South-south senators warned people opposed to the tax bills to desist from introducing regional, ethnic or tribal sentiments when criticising them.

However, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had assured that the National Assembly would do everything within its ability to ensure the passage of the tax bills.