The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pledged to sustain its support to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to help deepen tax administration and strengthen Nigeria’s revenue mobilisation efforts.
Speaking during the opening of an IMF-supported Headquarters Mission at the FIRS headquarters in Abuja, a Senior Economist at the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF, Paulo Paz, commended the tax agency for what he described as notable progress in fulfilling its mandate.
Paz noted that FIRS has made visible strides under the leadership of its Executive Chairman, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, particularly in delivering value to citizens through more efficient tax administration.
A statement by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman said the mission of the IMF team aims to identify fresh areas where the Bretton Woods institution could offer technical assistance, especially as Nigeria implements recently signed tax laws.
“These new tax laws will bring new impact to Nigeria. And we want to know how we can best support you with this new challenge. Our take on the four tax laws is first a recognition of the very good work that FIRS has been providing to the citizens. You now have new responsibilities with these powerful laws, which will further increase the relevance of tax administration in Nigeria,” Paz said.
He lauded the tax agency’s openness to collaboration, saying, “Thank you for your trust in our advice. We congratulate you for the good results so far. There is more to come, and we are here to help.”
Dr. Adedeji, represented by his Chief of Staff, Tayo Koleosho, acknowledged the institution’s critical role in guiding the agency’s reforms over the years. Adedeji expressed optimism that the partnership would continue seamlessly when the agency transitions to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) next year.
“IMF has gone on this journey with us, and I think we are in a good place to continue the journey together. We are working together either in digital transformation, VAT automation, compliance programme and the ability to automate some of those processes. I am particularly interested in corporate planning and data portfolio management so that our overall strategy can be translated into actionable and measurable tasks,” he said.
During the session, Mrs. Bolaji Akintola, Coordinating Director of the Corporate Services Group at FIRS, described the IMF as a strategic partner in the agency’s tax reform initiatives aimed at boosting domestic revenue generation.
She recounted that, with the IMF support, FIRS conducted two rounds of systemic evaluation exercises using the Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) between 2018 and 2023. The purpose of these assessments was to identify gaps in tax administration and design reform roadmaps to address them.
“Each of these exercises was followed by a post-TADAT mission where a reform roadmap was developed to address the systemic weaknesses that were uncovered. The fact that the results of the 2023 TADAT showed significant improvement on those of 2018 is indicative of the commitment of the Service towards institutional excellence,” she said.
She added that if another TADAT assessment were to be conducted today, the results would likely surpass those of 2023, given that several of the weaknesses highlighted in the most recent report have since been addressed. Many of these improvements, she noted, are now reflected in the four tax reform laws recently signed by President Bola Tinubu.
