Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service, (AKIRS) Mr Okon Okon has disclosed that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, (IGR) has increased by over 170% within the last six years.
Okon said this in a press conference in Uyo on Sunday after details emerged of contrasting revenue figures that deliberate strategies and innovations deployed by successive administrations in the revenue system meant that increases were experienced in the different revenue sources.
According to him, the IGR rose from N15.96 billion in 2017 to N43.18 billion in 2023.
“Gentlemen of the press, our State’s IGR rose from N34.75 billion in 2022 to N43.18 billion in 2023 under the administration of Governor Umo Eno, as shown in the figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Joint Tax Board (JTB), the apex body for tax authorities and final authority for reporting tax revenues in Nigeria.
“It is on record that Akwa Ibom State ranked among top 10 in IGR performance in Nigeria in 2023, coming 4th among the nine States of the Niger Delta in the recently released ranking published by the NBS. Our IGR trend shows significant and steady growth, with about 170 percent increase over the past six years, rising from N15.96 billion in 2017 to N43.18 billion in 2023.” He said.
He attributed the growth to reforms by the State Government, improvement in corporate governance, and operational processes by the Board and the business-enabling environment created by the administration of Eno.
The state IGR outlook for 2024 he said looked impressive and likely to surpass the set target for the year even as the Service have deepened their engagements with stakeholders through different strategic initiatives.
“This includes tailored capacity-building workshops on contemporary taxation for the State’s judiciary officers, intensive tax sensitisation and enlightenment campaign on radio, promotion of tax clubs in our tertiary institutions, and technical collaborations with other tax authorities.
“AKIRS is also prepared to adapt to changes in the tax system when the proposed reforms in tax and fiscal measures come through.” Okon explained.
The chairman said the focus for the next fiscal year would be to transform processes from a semi-manual system to full automation, achieve an end-to-end automation of all tax processes and was the outcome of the two days strategic session of the Service.
“AKIRS plans to roll-out electronic assessment, e-tax clearance process, e-filing of tax returns, automation of registration, collection and reporting processes with the ultimate aim of enhancing efficiency in revenue collection, taxpayers’ experience and minimization of human interference.
“Also, we will upscale our ongoing tax sensitisation and enlightenment campaign to raise awareness on tax payment as a civic responsibility and deepen voluntary compliance.
“We also assure our taxpayers that in our efforts to consistently improve on the State’s IGR, we will be cautious not to embark on any initiatives that will stifle business growth or overburden our individual taxpayers but will align with the impressive and favourable disposition of our dear Governor towards promoting SMEs, entrepreneurship and enabling businesses environment.
“We are confident that without increasing any tax rate, the IGR of our State would be improved via the application of technology, increased tax awareness campaign, and the expansion of the tax net to capture tax evaders,” Okon concluded.
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