Ease of doing biz: FCT-IRS unveils e-portal to boost tax system

By Stanley Onyekwere

In furtherance to its effort towards revolutionising revenue management and collection, the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-FIRS) has unveiled an e-portal to help propel effective and efficient tax system in the FCT.

FCT-IRS said the platform will help us bridge the gap between tradition and modernity, propelling tax management further into the digital age.

In his opening remarks at the grand launching of  the FCT-IRS e-portal, yestetday, the acting executive chairman of the Service, Haruna Abdullahi, said it is a symphony of evolution of processes, seamlessly harmonizing convenience, transparency, and accountability.

Abdullahi, who was represented by acting director, tax at the Service, Mrs Chinwe Ndu,  listed some of the feature offerings include the promotion of ease of doing business within the FCT, enhancement of accessibility to important tax-related services, simplified and streamlined tax services among other things.

He added it is ushering a new era where taxpayers can navigate their obligations with ease and efficiency, all at the click of a button from the comfort of their homes or offices.

According to him: “Our unwavering commitment to serving the people of the Federal Capital Territory with excellence and integrity is further emboldened by the introduction of the FCT-IRS e-portal.

“The e-portal is our collection, receipting, assessment, and TCC issuance platform with the embedding of every service of revenue management.

“This platform harnesses the power of technology to enable both taxpayers and tax administrators to interact in a transparent, efficient, and user-friendly manner.

Whether you’re an individual taxpayer, a business owner, or a tax consultant, this platform has been meticulously designed to meet your needs and exceed your expectations.

“The e-Portal stands as a testament to our unwavering dedication to our mission, which is to provide effective and efficient tax administration through continuous innovation.”

Similarly, acting Director, ICT, Mr James Olukotun explained that the portal was a cloud-based application designed for tax collection, receipt, assessment, Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) management, filing of returns, registration, reporting and all services of revenue management.

Olukotun added that the platform was embedded with a Revenue Management System portal and self-service e-portal.

He explained that the RMS was designed for officers of FCT-IRS to among other things, perform the functions of collection, registration, assessment, return filling, reporting, receipting and TCC issuance.

He said the e-portal self-service, on the other hand, allows both taxpayers and tax administrators to interact in a transparent, efficient, and user-friendly manner.

On his part, one of the technical partners of the Service, Mr Bosun Ayeni, Chief Executive Officer, Autocomm Services, noted that all were states were faced with the challenge of revenue generation and collection.

Ayeni assured continued support to FCT-IRS in the use of technology solutions to boost revenue generation and collections with a view to serve the people better.

Also speaking, Deputy Director, Land Administration Department, FCT Administration, Mr. Kumaiin Ikya, noted existing gaps in revenue generation and collection.

Ikya expressed optimism that the FCT-IRS technology-driven approach would bridge the gaps and ensure efficient tax administration and improve delivery of services in FCT.

However, it was observed that the dashboard of the e-portal shows that the FCT-IRS has collected 1.6 billion Naira this week and 1.9 billion Naira so far, in March.

The portal also shows that a total of 25.5 billion Naira have been collected so far in 2024 with an average daily collection of 23.3 Naira million.

Equally, it shows that the revenue service has a total of 1.5 million taxpayers in its tax net, out of which 392,737 are corporate taxpayers while 1.1 million were individuals.