According to information released by the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service, its 2023 revenue was around N203 billion, up 63% from N124 billion in 2022.
At a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Acting Chairman of the FCT-IRS Haruna Abdullahi highlighted the service’s goals, including its goal of generating approximately N250 billion by 2024.
According to a previous article by The PUNCH, the Service produced N98.5 billion in seven months from January to July 2023, compared to N65.7 billion in the same period in 2022.
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Abdullahi stated that the FCT’s revenue tax collection had increased from a meager N46 billion in 2017 to a whopping N124 billion in 2022—a gain of over 270%. The service expressed optimism that it could generate N250 billion with the help of FCTA employees, the National Assembly, and other significant stakeholders.
“The FCT-IRS’s Tax Revenue Collection increased by over 270% from just N46 billion in 2017 to over N124 billion in 2022,” he stated. At this point, I would like to notify the public that, as of December 19, 2023, the FCT-IRS has generated N203,147,090,410.5 in yearly income for the year 2023—a figure that surpasses N200 billion for the first time since the system’s founding in 2015.
This is a significant accomplishment for the service and a rise in collection of almost 63.34% over the previous year.
The FCT-IRS has set a target of N250 billion (two hundred and fifty billion naira) for the year 2024. We are confident and determined that we will achieve this goal, if not exceed it, thanks to the hardworking and dedicated personnel of the service, the backing of the FCT Administration, the National Assembly, and other important stakeholders, including our valued taxpayers. The task at hand is manageable.
The FCT’s taxpayer base increased from 543,969 individuals and 284,746 non-individuals in 2015 to 1,108,162 individuals and 389,981 non-individuals in 2023, according to the acting chairman’s explanation.
In addition, he stated that Section 31 of the FCT IRS Act 2015 and Section 85 of the Personal Income Tax Act, 2011 (as amended) would be enforced by the FCT-IRS. These provisions required commercial banks, other corporate bodies, departments and agencies, and secretariats to request and verify Tax Compliance Certificates before providing services in the FCT.
“The Service will impose penalties for failure to file annual returns by the 31st of January for employers and the 31st of March for individuals, in line with tax legislation, as part of our endeavors to guarantee compliance with filing of returns. There will be a more thorough reevaluation of returns, which will be followed by ongoing compliance checks and monitoring.
To be clear, Section 32 of the FCT-IRS Act, 2015 gives the Chairman of the Service the authority to grant any Officer of the Service unrestricted access to taxpayers’ assets and data in order to ensure that they are complying with tax regulations. He said, “The Service will make sure that all taxes owed to FCT are recovered and will not hesitate to prosecute tax offenders using the legal system.”