The Executive Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Revenue Service (AKIRS), Sir. Okon Okon has predicted a boom in the revenue sector as he declared that the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, for 2024 is likely to surpass set target.
The chairman attributed “impressive growth” in revenue generation to what he described as significant governance reforms by the State Government, improvement in corporate governance, and operational processes by the Board and the business-enabling environment created by the administration of Governor Umo Eno.
The Executive Chairman made this known at the NUJ centre yesterday while briefing newsmen on the ongoing reforms by the board.
The chairman noted that the focus for the next fiscal year would be to transform the processes from a semi-manual system to full automation, adding that the board intends to achieve an end-to-end automation of all our tax processes.
“In the course of this year, we have deepened our engagements with our stakeholders through different strategic initiatives. This includes tailored capacity building workshops on contemporary taxation for the State’s judiciary officers, intensive tax sensitisation and enlightenment campaign on radio, promotion of tax clubs in our tertiary institutions, and technical collaborations with other tax authorities.
“AKIRS plans to roll-out electronic assessment, e-tax clearance process, e-filing of tax returns, automation of registration, collection and reporting processes with the ultimate aim of enhancing efficiency in revenue collection, taxpayers’ experience and minimization of human interference.
“Also, we will upscale our ongoing tax sensitisation and enlightenment campaign to raise awareness on tax payment as a civic responsibility and deepen voluntary compliance.
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“We assure our taxpayers that in our efforts to consistently improve on the State’s IGR, we will be cautious not to embark on any initiatives that will stiffle business growth or overburden our individual taxpayers but will align with the impressive and favourable disposition of our dear Governor towards promoting SMEs, entrepreneurship and enabling businesses environment.
“It is on record that Akwa Ibom State ranked among top 10 in IGR performance in Nigeria in 2023, coming 4th among the nine States of the Niger Delta in the recently released ranking published by the NBS. Our IGR trend shows significant and steady growth, with about 170 percent increase over the past six years, rising from N15.96 billion in 2017 to N43.18 billion in 2023.”
Sir Okon assured that AKIRS is also prepared to adapt to changes in the tax system when the proposed reforms in tax and fiscal measures come through.
