KEY POINTS

• Taiwo Oyedele assures Nigerians that FG will not use any consultant, including Alpha-Beta, for tax collection.
• With very minor adjustments, the FIRS and its Tax Pro Max platform are fully capable of managing tax collection.
• Reducing reliance on third party consultants will improve the efficiency and transparency of the tax system, the government says.

Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential committee on tax policy and fiscal reforms, has assured Nigerians there are no plans to outsource tax collection to Alpha-Beta Consulting, or any other external firm, whatsoever.

Tax collection plans clarified

Speaking in Channels Television town hall meeting on the controversial proposed tax reform bills, Oyedele countered public controversy on the role of private consultants in tax collection in Nigeria.

These are concerns that Alpha-Beta, a consulting firm with a long history of working with the Lagos state government, has been at the centre of.

According to Oyedele, the Nigerian government has no interest in outsourcing tax collection to any consultants and rather wants to end the reliance on third parties on the part of the country’s tax system, which he believes is some of the reasons for the tax system’s inefficiency.

Efficient tax collection by FIRS

Oyedele added that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)’s existing TaxPro Max platform was sufficiently efficient in handling tax collection and that the service is tactful enough to collect taxes on its own.

However, he explained that most involved only minor adaptations necessary for the system to fit the proposed reforms.

“For example, once the bills are passed we will make small adoptions; if a company like MTN files its VAT returns, we will tweak it a little bit such that when they file their VAT returns, the system will ask them to give other additional information as may be the state of origin,” he added.

Compliance without external help

He also emphasized that this approach would apply on other large corporates like Dangote Group and financial institutions.

The former president assured that all the necessary systems would be in place to ensure compliance and the collection of taxes so as not to outsource to external consultants.