Babatunde Fowler, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has responded on the issue of the leaked memo from the Presidency, on the agency's inability to revealing what affected the agency's inability to meet its tax revenue target.
A memo, allegedly written from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari to Babatunde Fowler surfaced on the internet on Sunday, August 18, 2019, querying the FIRS boss on why he has consistently been unable to hit the agency's budget, and why his tax revenue receipts over the last four years were lower than that of the previous administration, asking him to explain the reason for the variances between the budgeted and actual revenues.
Babatunde Fowler Kyari given up till Monday, August 19, 2019, to explain, and in what appears like breaking his silence over the memo, Fowler said the recession experienced by the Nigerian economy in 2016, as well as the drop in oil prices, affected the revenue collected by the FIRS between 2015 and 2018.
The FIRS boss explained that despite the challenges, non-oil revenue such as Value Added Tax (VAT) and company income tax — which he said were within the control of the FIRS — have been on the increase compared to pre-2015 figures.
Responding, Fowler said non-oil tax revenue rose, and he is confident that our current strategies and initiatives will improve revenue collection and meet the expectations of government. Meanwhile, the Presidency has dismissed stories of alleged probe of the FIRS boss.
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