The National Assembly says it will support the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) through the repeal of obsolete tax laws and re-enactment of new ones in line with current and global trends.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Muhammed Musa, disclosed this while speaking at the FIRS 2024 Stakeholders Engagement with the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Finance in Lagos on Saturday, August 17. 2024.
According to Mr Musa, it is important to give the country the right legislation for tax collection and revenue generation.
He said that the process planned by the National Assembly would enable the modification of tax laws that have been in existence even before the independence of the country.
Mr Musa said: “I am sure the Executive will submit the bill when we resume from our recess to enable us to amend the Acts, repeal them and re-enact the ones that will suit current trends.
“Considering innovation, cryptocurrencies, for example, have been one of the largest ways of making money, but in Nigeria, we do not have any law to guide that.
“With what FIRS and the legislatures are doing, we are synergising to come out with a legislation that will give Nigeria the best in getting more revenue to take care of its challenges, in terms of human development, and infrastructure, among others.
“We are working together to ensure that the FIRS is fully equipped to maximise revenue collection, thereby providing the necessary resources for National development and public welfare in the country,” he said.
In his remarks, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, said that the Federal Government would introduce new tax laws that would overhaul the whole process of the nation’s revenue administration by September.
Adedeji noted that the new law would among other benefits, harmonise and simplify tax law in the country, adding that it would provide better service that could sustain the economic plan of President Bola Tinubu.
He said, “For example, the stamp duty has tax law of 1939; when there was no internet or connectivity, nor Local Government.
“Part of the reason President Bola Tinubu set up the Tax and Fiscal Reform Committee is to check these lapses and take care of the concerns by September.
