From about N34 billion annual tax revenue in 2005 when he assumed office as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, has been able to grow the tax profile of the state to more than N172 billion as at the end of 2012. But he is not done yet.
According to him, “our main objective is to make sure that 99.9 percent of all residents in Lagos pay tax when due. Once that is done, then I will be convinced that we have achieved our objective.”
Reviewing the height attained by LIRS under his leadership, the tax man said: “We started on an average of N3.6 billion per month and as at last year, it averaged over N17.5 billion per month,” adding that a lot of law-abiding residents in Lagos have now started to realise the need to pay tax.
“And you can see how it has impacted the lives of all of us. I thought our achievement will be that we have been able to bring people to a point where they can begin to see the benefits of paying tax,” he told Daily Sun.
But at a forum earlier in Abuja, Fowler had revealed the secret behind his success was the reform process initiated by the administration of former Governor Bola Tinubu.
He added: “Part of his reform strategies included the autonomy granted Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS). The autonomy has given LIRS the powers to hire professionals who have the technical know-how on tax issues and administration; adequate funding is continuously made available to ensure the smooth and efficient administration and providing the revenue authority with modern day technologies. And to curb tax evasion and avoidance, Lagos State is fully implementing and enforcing the provisions of the tax laws and its regulations. The state has effectively clamped down on companies that evade or under-remit taxes.”
At both fora, the LIRS boss explained what the state was doing to curb tax evasion, tax avoidance and what the future holds for the organisation.
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