Executive chairman, Oyo State Internal Revenue Service (OYSIRS), Mr John Adeleke has said the current Governor Seyi Makinde led state government has a target to double its current Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had in its 2018 report of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) generated by states released in May, stated that Oyo state amassed N24.6 billion, with monthly IGR revolving around N1.2billion and N2.2billion.
Disclosing the current government’s IGR target in an interview with newsmen on Thursday, Adeleke said the OYSIRS would be actively engaging those in the informal sector so as to bring them into the tax net.
Adeleke pointed out that the process of bringing traders, craftsmen, artisans and others in the informal sector into the tax net had begun with sensitisation while Tax Identification Number (TIN) was being introduced in the state.
While reiterating that the state government will not increase the tax on ordinary citizens, Adeleke said the state revenue service will focus on implementing all extant tax laws by exploiting all tax avenues aside from Pay As You Earn (PAYE).
According to Adeleke, the people of the state were responding favourably towards remitting their tax because of their conviction that the Makinde’s government was performing.
“The greatest challenge every tax collector faces is the informal sector but we have our creative ways of ensuring that everyone, trader, craftsman, artisan, that should be in the tax net is there. And the fruit of our efforts will be seen shortly through greater leap in revenue in Oyo state.
“Oyo government will not increase the tax on the citizenry but all extant laws in our books will be implemented. We will make sure the existing collection is more effective and all tax areas other than PAYE will be exploited. In ensuring that everyone pays their share of taxation, we will make sure the ordinary people are protected.
“In the not too distant future, our target is to double the present IGR of Oyo state. We have our strategies and our activism in sensitising people in the informal sector and bringing them into the tax net will yield results. The people are responding because they see the good work that Makinde is doing in Oyo state,” Adeleke said.
Meanwhile, a tax consultant, Mr Akinyele Oladeji has said the state government, over time, has only been scratching the surface in its internal revenue generation.
Speaking during Chartered Institute of Taxation in Nigeria (CITN) conference held in Ibadan, on Thursday, Oladeji bemoaned that the informal sector was not being effectively taxed.
Calling on the state government to be ingenious, creative, offer incentives, Oladeji held that the state had the potential to generate even beyond its N5billion monthly target.