Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Monday pledged support for the scale-up of modern, taxpayer-friendly and technology-driven revenue administrations in all 36 States of the Federation.
The NGF Director-General, Asishana Okauru who gave the assurance in Abuja, during the opening of the maiden ‘Technology & Tax Event’, organized by NGF with the support of the World Bank and the International Centre for Tax and Development, underscored the need for each government to put necessary measures in place to mitigate against associated risks.
“The goal for us is to help facilitate the scale-up of modern, taxpayer-friendly, and technology-driven revenue administrations in all States of the federation that will be capable of providing world-class services; characterized by efficient, paperless operations, and equipped with ICT-enabled risk-based enforcement capable of optimizing their revenue mobilization strategies.”
Okauru maintained that the lessons drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic showed that all revenue administrations need to move to a digital future.
“Even in the African continent, there have been several innovations which have been forced by the pandemic, including the provision of social assistance through mobile phone on a larger scale than ever before, as well as increased technology-based learning. 2020 did for technology services what the 1930s did for financial services, with the growth in the regulation of commercial, investment banks, stock and commodity exchanges. We believe tax administration should be no different.
“We have taken this step to bring together technology providers, service providers and researchers in the tax space into one network to take advantage of the innovation that is taking place. We will continue to do our best to bring such collaborations together to provide opportunities for States to benefit from a global perspective and to ensure no state is left behind. Overall, digitization does not only bring about efficiency, but it provides opportunities for more people to be involved.”
The NGF Director-General also tasked tax authorities on the “criticality of internet-based business support systems and payment platforms for the automation of all back-end operational processes and payments across all revenue streams.
Okauru maintained that the lessons drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic showed that all revenue administrations need to move to a digital future.
“Even in the African continent, there have been several innovations which have been forced by the pandemic, including the provision of social assistance through mobile phone on a larger scale than ever before, as well as increased technology-based learning. 2020 did for technology services what the 1930s did for financial services, with the growth in the regulation of commercial, investment banks, stock and commodity exchanges. We believe tax administration should be no different.
“We have taken this step to bring together technology providers, service providers and researchers in the tax space into one network to take advantage of the innovation that is taking place. We will continue to do our best to bring such collaborations together to provide opportunities for States to benefit from a global perspective and to ensure no state is left behind. Overall, digitization does not only bring about efficiency, but it provides opportunities for more people to be involved.”
The NGF Director-General also tasked tax authorities on the “criticality of internet-based business support systems and payment platforms for the automation of all back-end operational processes and payments across all revenue streams.
By Kehinde Akintola
Nigerian Tribune