39 TH COMMOMWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF TAX ADMINISTRATORS (CATA) TECHNICAL CONFERENCE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN IMPROVING THE DELIVERY OF TAXPAYERS SERVICES

Transcription

1 39 TH COMMOMWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF TAX ADMINISTRATORS (CATA) TECHNICAL CONFERENCE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN IMPROVING THE DELIVERY OF TAXPAYERS SERVICES Tunde Fowler Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman, Joint Tax Board (JTB) Chairman, African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) 1st Vice Chairman, United Nations International Tax Experts Committee November 12 th -16 th, 2018

2 OUTLINE Introduction FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: Automation of Core Tax Processes. FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: e-services. FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: Strategic Collaborations. FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: Automation of FIRS s Processes. Benefits of FIRS s Technological Initiatives: Increased Revenue Generation: Jan-Oct

3 Introduction The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is the primary revenue generating agency of the Federal Government, established by the FIRS (Establishment Act), 2007 with the broad mandate to assess, collect and account for all taxes accruable to the Federation. These taxes contribute to the funding of the activities of the three tiers of Government. In carrying out the above mandate within the dynamic environment of today, FIRS has adopted initiatives that ensure a robust tax administration that is agile and beneficial to all stakeholders. Considering the volatility of oil price which is currently low comparatively, this administration has focused in growing the non-oil tax revenue. 3

4 FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: Automation of Core Tax Processes Auto VAT Collection Automation of VAT collection in key sectors which will facilitate reduction in compliance cost in the long term. System to system integration between banks and FIRS 31% increase year on year in VAT collection in the banks that have gone live between Jan 2017-Jun 2018 Unity bank had an increase of 895% from (32m 332m) between Jan 2017-Jun 2018 Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) The ITAS project is a suite of programs that will enable the automation of FIRS tax processes. As part of the Service s objectives to bring highlevel efficiency to tax revenue collection and provide first class services to taxpayers, ITAS project introduced SIGTAS, a solution that covers all aspects of tax administration in one integrated system. Government Information Financial Management Information System(GIFMIS) GIFMIS is an interface linking FIRS to the OAGF for real-time exchange of information and data. State Offices of Accountant General Platform (SAG) Automated the deduction at source and remittance of VAT and WHT from State governments contract payments directly to FIRS s account. EASE OF DOING BUSINESS EASE OF VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE 4

5 FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: e-services e-receipt An electronic notification will be automatically sent to the taxpayer s and/or phone with in 24 hours after payment and its verification e-tcc Taxpayers can request for and print their TCC from the comfort of their homes or offices (tcc.firs.gov.ng) Tax clearance on the platform grew from 9,574 59,350 within a year of introducing the platform e-stamp Duty Easier payment for taxpayers Integration with CAC-reduced stamp duty payments from 3days- just a few hours. Automation of stamp duty levied transactions from the comfort of your home or office It can be accessed at When platform went live the monthly stamp duty payments grew from an average of 500m to 1.1bn monthly. FIRS e-stamp Duty platform won African Innovation award as the best on ICT innovation. 5

6 FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: e-services e-registration Taxpayers can register online to have access to tax administration services e-filing Taxpayers can now file tax returns online for all taxes e-payment Electronic payment of taxes through any of FIRS preferred payment channels e.g Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement Services (NIBSS), Remita, Quickteller (Interswitch), Etranzact Payment Gateway PAYMENT GATEWAY REPORT FROM JAN-OCT 2018 SERVICE PROVIDER TAX AMOUNT BN TRANSACTION COUNT 1 etranzact 156,576,284, ,082,063 2 Infiniti Systems 191,435, Interswitch 1,005,102,227, ,402 4 NIBSS (e-taxpay) 2,558,189, ,215 5 System Specs (Remita) 139,626,318, ,952 1,304,054,455, ,903,636 6

7 FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: Strategic Collaborations Joint Tax Board: FIRS/JTB integration provides every taxpayer in the country with a once in a life-time harmonized unique tax identification number which makes management of tax affairs across different tax authorities easier. Joint Tax audit by FIRS and SBIRs will save compliance cost and time Enhanced collaboration with SBIRs has resulted in the growth of registered taxpayers in Nigeria from 10 million in 2015 to about 19 million in This growth can curb the easy transfer of unexplained wealth Collaboration with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC): To this end, any newly registered Company, Partnerships & Enterprise, would automatically get a Tax Identification Number (TIN), which can monitor financial inflow and outflow. Anti Corruption Agencies. In line with the anticorruption campaign of the Federal government and the Service has Established the FIRS/EFCC Joint Tax Force to enhance the fight against tax related economic fraud & the Anticorruption and Transparency Monitoring Unit (ACTU) to champion anti-graft activities in the Service. Strengthened Enforcement Activities: Collaboration with security agencies in carrying out enforcement exercises on tax defaulters has led to improved taxpayers compliance, and collection of huge tax debts which were outstanding before the coming of this administration 7

8 FIRS s Technological Initiatives In Delivering Taxpayers Services: FIRS Process Automation The FIRS in their drive to increase efficiency, automated the Finance & Account, Procurement Processes (SAPFiCo/MM) and also the Human Capital Management Processes (SAP ESS/MSS). The FIRS implemented the System Application Products (SAP) solution in ensuring a higher level of effectiveness is attained. SAP AUTOMATION FINANCE /ACCOUNT =>Payment of Staff Salaries & Bonuses => 3rd Party Payments. PROCUREMENT => Automation of procurement process. HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT => Automation of staff appraisal. => Leave Request. => Automated pay-slips to staff . => Automated organization management structure. 8

9 Benefits of FIRS s Technological Initiatives: Increased Revenue Generation: Jan-Oct 2018 Tax Type Cumulative Target (Jan-Oct) January February March April May June July August September October Cumulative Collection (Jan-Oct) (=N= b) (=N= b) (=N= b) (=N= b) (=N= b) (=N= b ) (=N= b ) (=N= b ) ( =N= b ) (=N= b ) (=N= b ) (=N= b) % Achievement FEDERATION ACCT: a Oil Tax Petroleum Profit Tax 2, , Sub-total 2, , b Non-Oil Taxes Company Income Tax 1, , Gas Income Capital Gains Tax Stamp Duty Sub-total 1, , Total Federation Account 3, , (a+b) OTHER NON-OIL TAXES c VAT POOL Non-Import VAT NCS-Import VAT Sub-total 1, d EDUCATION TAX e CONSOLIDATED ACCT: Personal Income Tax Pre-Operational Levy Stamp Duty Sub-total f NITDEF g Total Non-oil (b+c+d+e+f) 3, , h Grand Total (a+g) 5, , The total collection of N4,408.19trillion from January to October, 2018 is an increase of N1,198.76Trillion over collection for the same period in

10 Benefits of FIRS s Technological Initiatives: Increased Revenue Generation: e-stamp duties Jan-Oct, 2018 e-stamp duties collection is on a steady increase. So far in 2018, the FIRS have collected 13.62bn in 10 months months. The above collected this year has already surpassed that of 2017 (10.9bn), 2016 (5.6bn), and 2015 (7.1bn) 10

11 Benefits of FIRS Technological Initiatives: Increased Revenue Generation: e-vat Collection: Jan-Oct 2018 VAT collection is on a steady increase. So far in 2018, the FIRS have collected 912.4bn in 10 months. The above collected this year has already surpassed that of 2015 (767.33bn) and 2016 (828.19bn), and on course to surpass 2017 (972.30bn). 11

12 FIRS s Compliance Strategies: Tax Enlightenment Programme Tax Amnesty FIRS initiated a tax amnesty programme in 2016 which attracted over 3000 applications for waiver of interest and penalty The programme resulted in the payment/collection of over N68billion out of about N96.2billion liability established from the exercise Waiver of penalty and interest were granted to ease tax burden and cost of enforcement on affected taxpayers Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration (VAIDS) VAIDS was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the FIRS received over 5122 applications under the Scheme The Scheme has resulted voluntary declaration of over N92billion liability with over N43billion paid so far by companies Qualified applicants will benefit from waiver of penalty and interest, and exemption from tax audit/investigation Promoting Local Content The Service has procured products manufactured in Nigeria e.g. Peugeot Vehicles in line with the Federal government s drive to support the growth of local industries. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) As a result of its CSR activities FIRS has supported educational institutions and the creative industry through partnerships that have enhanced taxpayer education EASE OF VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS MITIGATION OF TAX APATHY 12

13 FIRS s Compliance Strategies: Audit Exercise Audit Update The tax audit cycle has been reduced in order to fast-track the conclusion of tax audits. (As at Oct 2018) DESCRIPTION Year NTA MSTA TOTAL (NTA MSTA) NUMBER VALUE (N) NUMBER VALUE (N) NUMBER VALUE (N) Tax Audit Assessments Raised ,969,420,619, ,631,945,240 1, ,883,591,023 Tax Audit Collection ,835,935,683 1,065,783,252 45,901,718,935 Tax Audit Assessments Raised ,875,789, ,449,480,312 1,674 1,007,325,270,227 Tax Audit Collection ,490,530,771 6,518,560, ,009,090,956 Flexibility in Choice of Tax Office for Taxpayers This initiative by this administration allows taxpayers the choice of tax office through which to receive services from the FIRS. This is to facilitate voluntary compliance and improve ease of doing business by mitigating the costs and burden of tax compliance. Enhanced Taxpayer Education Created the Federal Engagement & Enlightenment Tax Team (FEETT) and Contact Center for the purposes of improving taxpayer engagement/enlightenment Used relevant media and various languages to spread tax awareness through radio and TV programmes, and social media engagements EASE OF VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS MITIGATION OF TAX APATHY 13

14 Benefits of Adopting Technology Easy remittance of taxes by taxpayers Improved provision of an enabling environment for Nigerian businesses Promotes economic viability and growth of FIRS and the Nigerian Promotes accountability in tax administration Improved technology-based compliance control Reduced cost of enforcing compliance Improved service delivery to taxpayers Smooth and automatic exchange of data and information Enhanced staff efficiency Improved tax payer education, sensitization as well as brand management Single-Window Dashboard: provides a powerful reporting and analytics tool, aggregating data from the platform & simplifying reports for planning and decision making 14

15 Conclusion FIRS is committed to continuously carry out its service wide campaign to bring Innovation, Convenience, and Transparency (ICT) to the doorsteps of taxpayers in Nigeria, to make any level of engagement efficient and beneficial to all who interact with us and our services. Making FIRS s services accessible to taxpayers is imperative to ensuring compliance and increased revenue. The FIRS shall continue to improve upon their Technological advancement in order to effectively provide quality services to the taxpayers.