3.5 MILLION LAGOSIANS EVADE TAX – LIRS

October 30, 2015 – Chairman OF the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr. Olufolarin Ogunsanwo has said that the state government has been able to capture about 4.5 million residents of the state in its tax net out of 8 million taxable adults but that 3.5 million people do not pay tax.

Ogunsanwo made the observation recently at a meeting with the management and staff of the agency. “As I speak, we have eight million taxable Lagosians but only 4.5 million are so far in the tax net of the State Government, meaning that about 3.5 million Lagosians are still tax evaders. We will ensure that those not yet in the tax net are brought in and I can assure you that within the next six months the IGR of the State would have increased proportionately.”

He stressed the need to raise the bar of tax net in the state so that its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) could be used to cushion the effect of the shortfall. He explained that the expanded tax net would enable the government continue to provide corresponding developmental projects in the state.

The Chairman advocated willful compliance by Lagosians with tax remittances as against tax audit presently in practice, describing tax audit system as avoidable, unnecessary and waste of human resources that could be channeled into other areas of growth if tax payers embraced remitting taxes without being compelled.

While promising that the Agency will continue to ensure that all what is due to the State Government in the area of taxes is promptly remitted, the chairman noted that the fulfilment of the promises made to Lagosians by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is attached to the ability of Lagosians to fulfil their own part of the social contract by performing their civic responsibility.

Ogunsanwo maintained that the leadership of LIRS will henceforth leverage on the use of technology to ease the process of revenue collection and also reduce if not eliminate some perceived bottlenecks that could be resolved with the use of technology.

He also urged officials of the revenue agency to always make civility their watchword in the daily discharge of their duties, stressing that the ethical demand of tax collection is premised on broadening tax net without causing unnecessary hardship to the tax payers.

He added that the job of a revenue collector is humanitarian in nature and that tax payers should be treated as customers, while the tax payers on their parts should courteously accord the revenue collectors the due honour of government officials.

Ogunsanwo bemoaned the situations where revenue collectors were being maltreated and appealed for maximum cooperation and understanding from members of the public in ensuring prompt remittance of their taxes to the State Government.

Responding to the several requests made by the staff of the agency, the LIRS boss promised that all issues bothering on better welfare packages were being looked into, stressing that he knows where the shoe pinches having risen progressively through different positions and offices within the agency in the last 25 years.

“I want to assure you that office accommodation issues, professional advancement, progressive promotion, performance bonuses, training and retraining will be duly addressed in a short while. I have discussed with the management team and our position in all the aforementioned will be communicated to you,” Ogunsanwo reiterated.