The Federal Government has set a tax revenue target of N19.4tn for 2024.
This is as the Federal Inland Revenue Service collected a record N12.37tn in tax revenue for the federation in 2023, surpassing the year’s target of N10.7tn.
According to the chairman, FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, the new target is achievable because of an effective tax collection system and a viable economic environment for businesses to prosper.
Giving a breakdown of the figures, one of the agency’s coordinating directors, Amina Ado, disclosed that oil revenue accounted for N3.17tn of the total, representing 25.6 per cent, while non-oil revenue was 74.4 per cent at N9.2tn.
According to a statement signed by Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, the disclosure was made at the opening of a two-day strategic management retreat of the agency held at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The agency noted that its initial tax target of N10.7tn for 2023 was reviewed upwards to N11.5tn by the agency because of the exchange rate.
Commenting on 2024’s target, FIRS’s chairman, Adedeji said, “What determines whatever we have comes from micro-economic indices because when the economy runs well, we are going to be taxing prosperity, not poverty.
“We will focus on the fruits and not the seeds. We need to ensure we have that viable economic environment that will lead to economic prosperity. And for us at FIRS, it is just to put the system in place to aid effective collection.
“We are not a revenue-generating agency, but a revenue-collection agency. With the plan of President Bola Tinubu to rejuvenate the economy, companies are going to grow and prosper,” he said.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, stressed the need for an increase in tax revenue to enable the government to discharge its responsibilities to the citizenry.
