The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have introduced an inter-connectivity project, importers’ Taxpayer’s Identification Number (TIN) platform, to stakeholders at the nation’s ports.
The FIRS Executive Chairman, Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, made this known on Thursday in Lagos at the launch of the platform.
She said that the connectivity was done under the “Project FACT” initiative of the FIRS which had been implemented successfully from inception to date.
According to Omoigui-Okauru, represented by Mr Osy Chuke, the Coordinating Director, Corporate Development Group of FIRS, TIN is a unique sequential number of predetermined digits electronically generated to all corporate and individual tax payers.
She said that the inter-connectivity, which took immediate effect, was for the purpose of tax registration and would be used for the purpose of identifying a tax payer.
“The TIN must be quoted in all relevant transactions by the tax payers, especially when paying taxes,’’ the FIRS chairman said.
She recalled that prior to the conception of the inter-connectivity project, the mechanism put in place for reconciliation of collections and other information was purely manual.
“The Nigeria Customs Service will usually send paper copies of details of Value Added Tax (VAT) payments collected on imports and other relevant information.
“The FIRS will thereafter be left to review, analyse and, if possible, reconcile this information with its own records,’’ Omoigui-Okauru said.
She said that the old system had its inherent problems, including difficulty in tracking or linking of importers’ actual remittances.
The chairman said that the desire of FIRS was to develop a national single window for harmonising and standardising the taxpayers’ information and as well improve exchange of information among the stakeholders.
According to her, the FIRS-NCS integration project, therefore, seeks to establish a data exchange interface between FIRS and NCS in real time.
“With this in place, details (name, taxpayer’s identification number, address) from the FIRS portal are transported through an electronic link to NCS.
The details of payments (Value Added Tax on imports) collected by the NCS are also sent to the portal via the same medium,’’ Omoigui-Okauru said.
She said that the launch would bring about increase revenue, greater efficiency, accountability, transparency and better management of records and information on the part of both FIRS and NCS.
The Comptroller-General of NCS, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, said that importers had the patriotic duty to pay their taxes, adding that the service and FIRS met and rub minds to simplify the tax system.
Abdullahi, represented by the Assistant Comptroller-General, Automated System of Customs Data (ASYCUDA), Alhaji Iya Abubakar, said that every importer should be identified with his TIN.
“I know what we have been going through with importers’ ASYCUDA number and we want to simplify that,” the comptroller-general said.
Mr Emmanuel Obeta, the Director, Corporate Communications Department, FIRS, said “in U. S. there is social security number and once somebody has this, all his transactions and activities would be captured.“
“Interestingly, Nigeria is moving to that level and bridging all the gaps through the collaboration of various government agencies,’’ Obeta said.
Mrs Julie Ogboru, representative of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (LCCI), said that the TIN concept was good.
He said that FIRS and NCS did not carry the maritime stakeholders along.
“We are left out and these things are pushed back to us.
“If we have been carried along at the first instance, we would have contributed our quota,’’ Ogboru said.
Mr Wale Adeniyi, the customs spokesman, said that there would be road shows and other campaigns to ensure that importers familiarise themselves with the new platform.
TIN has been in existence since November 2005 on a pilot run.
On Feb. 1, 2008, it became mandatory for all payments of FIRS taxes and levies.
TIN is a unique number that is electronically assigned to all corporate and individual taxpayers.
Courtesy NAN