The National Assembly has set a revenue target of N25 trillion for the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the 2025 fiscal year.
The Joint Committee on Finance from both chambers announced this on Wednesday during the 2025 budget defense session for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.
The Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr. Zacch Adedeji, led his team to the session with the lawmakers. Senator Sani Musa, representing Niger East and Chairman of the Joint Committee, stated that the N25 trillion target is achievable.
He said, “FIRS should work with the N25 trillion projected revenue target set for 2025. It is both achievable and surpassable.”
Members of the Committee commended the FIRS for exceeding its 2024 revenue collection target of N19.4 trillion by collecting N21.6 trillion.
The Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Honourable Saidu Musa Abdullahi, described this performance as unprecedented.
He said, “The feat achieved by FIRS in revenue collection for 2024 is unprecedented and highly commendable. Surpassing the target of N19.4 trillion set in the 2024 Appropriation Act to reach N21.6 trillion is very encouraging.”
Honourable Abdullahi noted that South Africa, with a smaller population of 45 to 54 million compared to Nigeria’s over 200 million, generates higher revenue from tax collection. He urged Mr. Adedeji to study South Africa’s tax collection template.
“We will give you total support for your tax reforms, but you need to bring more taxable citizens from the informal sector into the tax net,” he added.
Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, representing Delta South, advised the FIRS chairman to redouble his efforts and deepen the process of tax revenue collection through planned reforms. Unlike his colleagues, he suggested a revenue target of N30 trillion for 2025.
ALSO READ: 2025 budget: Tinubu approves N100bn for solar-powered energy for MDAs
Senator Binos Yeroe, representing Adamawa South, praised the agency for the initiatives and innovations that helped surpass its 2024 tax collection target.
“Your performance in 2024 was highly commendable. Keep it up,” he said.
Honourable Etanabene Benedict also commended the FIRS and emphasized the importance of robust tax collection to reduce reliance on borrowing for budget funding.
“If we excel in tax collection and revenue generation, we won’t need to borrow to fund our budget. Considering the achievement of FIRS in 2024, I urge this committee to project N60 trillion in tax collection or revenue generation for 2025,” he concluded.
