Makinde, FIRS, others seek good humanity in tax reforms for informal sector

…Oyo’s revenue grown by 145.5% as gov declares Joint Tax Board meeting open

Seyi Makinde, Oyo State Governor and other stakeholders have called for effective and inclusive solutions to Nigeria’s tax challenges, particularly in addressing the informal sector and improving the system.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 157th Meeting of the Joint Tax Board, comprising players in the tax sector at the State and National levels in Ibadan, on Monday, Governor Makinde stated that for the country to break the poverty barrier and record increased economic prosperity, it must rely less on natural resources and move towards mobilising its people to be productive and to possess knowledge, skills and engage in intensive productivity.

He said: “This gathering is not only timely, it also aligns with the real work we are currently doing in Oyo State and, of course, Nigeria, to improve the tax system, especially as you are trying to find a solution to the informal sector.

“You are all here with diverse experiences and can sit down and talk, find out what is the best path forward. How do you balance your identified challenges and also how can you move forward?
“I have heard people talk about Nigeria not having any reason or need to have any challenge with poverty, because this is a rich country. Yes, we are rich in natural resources but it is a poor country, because economic prosperity cannot be based solely on your natural resources.

“For you to have economic prosperity, you must ensure that you go out there, mobilise the people. You must have knowledge, skills and intensive production. That is when you can move to economic prosperity.

“We have quite a bit of work to do to move away from federal allocation to generating incomes, having productivity at the local level.

“So, in Oyo State, we are not just talking about expanding the tax net, we are actively ensuring that people are productive and the people are moving the revenue base of the country forward.
“We recognise that the informal sector is made up of traders, artisans, commercial drivers and small businesses, which form the backbone of our local economy. This segment has now become a focus of strategic action.

“We have taken concrete steps to bring more people into the tax net without burdening them unnecessarily. Our initiatives include mass tax education where you let people know your service but you have to find a way to pay for it.

“Also, there are simplified processes where you can stay in the corner of your business premises and pay your taxes.
“We also have incentive compliance where we encourage people to have voluntary tax payment for benefits such as access to empowerment schemes and credit facilities.

“So, we know we have a lot to do and that is why I am particularly hopeful about the outcome of this meeting. In the next two days, I look forward to hearing about further proven methods of capturing revenue from a highly mobile population and how to track informal businesses and how that would work side by side with formalisation in the informal sector.”

Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, noted that the JTB, currently transitioning to the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) with expanded scope and responsibilities, would continue to harmonise and modernise tax systems nationwide.

He stressed that the Administration of President Bola Tinubu is concerned about the well-being of operators of the informal sector stating that the ongoing efforts to capture these players into the taxable net is to properly organise the sector for effective economic planning and not to tax them.

“Our meeting here provides the right platform to brainstorm innovative and equitable ways of bringing the informal sector into the tax net without alienating or overburdening it,” Adedeji noted.

Adedeji, who is the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board, commended the governor for growing Oyo State’s revenue profile by 145.5% since he assumed office in 2019, adding that the State recorded an IGR performance of N65.28 billion in 2024, a figure, which he noted, reflected 23.7% growth over the 2023 collection.

The FIRS boss equally lauded Governor Makinde’s infrastructure development strides, just as he acknowledged the “significant milestones” made across other sectors such as education, health, trade and investments, among others.