FCT-IRS Bemoans Payment Of Its Taxes To FIRS, States

By: Wisdom Acka

Acting Executive Chairman, Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), Haruna Abdullahi, has frowned at wrongful remittances of taxes meant for his organisation into the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

The Chairman also berated payment of personal income tax that are supposed to be paid to FCT-IRS to other States of the federation.

Abdullahi raised these concerns, while speaking at a two-day workshop organized on Tuesday in collaboration with the Joint Tax Board and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, to ensure proper use of IPPIS and GIFMIS platforms.

Recall that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) are platforms used for financial transactions and taxation in the public sector.

The Chairman noted that tax remittances were significant pillars of the financial system, which serve as a critical revenue source needed to for economic development, promotion of wealth redistribution, and contribution to the overall welfare of the society.

His words: “This engagement is vital to correct the misallocations of past tax remittances.”

“I would like to stress that the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) exists to serve the people of the FCT, just as the FIRS exists to serve the entire nation. We are not competitors, but rather collaborators in the larger scheme of national development,” the Chairman said.

“To the FIRS, we say, let fairness and justice prevail. We believe in your institution’s dedication to just and fair practices,” he emphasized.

“And as such, we request that you join us in this crucial endeavor to correct these past mistakes and ensure that the FCT-IRS receives what is rightfully due to it”, he added.

While stressing that the anomalies, which were due to inaccurate data entries on the platforms, distorts financial records and deprives the rightful states of their due resources, Abdullahi lamented that “the resources wrongly allocated in the past could be better utilized to foster growth and development in the FCT, hence benefiting the residents of our great capital”.

He, therefore, appealed to desk officers to be meticulous in their duties -double-check every data entered, every form filled, and every tax remittance made to ensure it goes to the right organisation.

Chairman, FCT Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Dr. Kennedy Iwundu, in his remarks, explained that the VAT component of tax was meant to be remitted to States, FCT-IRS in the case of FCT, while the withholding tax component was payable to FIRS.

Iwundu advised desk officers to always demand for two tax identification numbers (TINs) to be able to make payments for the two tax components.

He called on the tax organisations to comply with the principle of simplicity and certainty, to make payment easy; warning that without which tax payers would be further discouraged in filing tax returns since.

Participants at the workshop included account officers from Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, who asked questions on several issues bedeviling the two payment platforms such as over payment, underpayment and entry of wrongful data into the systems, among others.